The Birds and the Birdcages
by NoOneEverLonely
Summary: Imprisoned in solitary confinement for murder, Princess Nuvovniya finds comfort only in the sound of her own voice. She doesn't know what to think when another voice slips from the darkness and into her ears. Are they something like friends? Can a place as cold as Impel Down help create something so warm? And if there's a chance to escape, should they take it together?
1. Chapter 1

Hello there. I haven't written one of these in nearly a decade, but this story just kept spilling in my head, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I hope you enjoy it, but even if you don't, tell me what you think. Happy Halloween! :)

…

The cloudiest night in the history of Harmelude couldn't compare to the devastating darkness of Impel Down. It's the sort of dark that carries with it the weight of every fear or regret that you've ever felt, shrouding you in your own defeat the moment the doors lock behind you and shut out the last trace of the outside world. Then you think thoughts to yourself like _I will never see that world, just as it is now, ever again_ and _maybe I don't want to see it anyway._

At least, those were the sort thoughts that Nuvo was having as she rode down the prison's lift, accompanied by four heavily armed guards and Warden Magellan himself. There wasn't any need for such precaution; Princess Nuvovniya of the Harmelude Kingdom had no intention of causing harm to these people. Although she knew she was perfectly capable of doing so, she also knew that it would only lead to more serious consequences than those she already had to face. It doesn't get much worse than a sentence to level six of Impel Down, but that's where you go when the heads of the World Government want you to suffer.

Harmelude was one of the few kingdoms left outside the clutches of the World Government, and until quite recently, most didn't know it existed. Consisting of only a single island, it was an entirely isolated, self-sustaining paradise amongst the calamity of the current pirate era. There was hardly any crime, and those that did take place were petty and thereby quickly resolved. The population was low and few who weren't born there knew how to reach it. The rest of the world probably wouldn't have any interest in Harmelude at all if not for the fact that it was made public knowledge that the citizens had such unusual abilities.

Harmelude was as diverse as any other kingdom, but the defining feature of everyone born there was that they were exceptionally talented singers. Not talented in the sense they had an enormous vocal range or oddly perfect pitch, but talented in that when people from this strange place sang their songs, the environment around them somehow changed. Physically. A childhood friend of Nuvo's had the ability to alter plants when she sang; she could make them bloom or die or grow as tall as a house if she wanted with only her voice as a tool. She kept a most fantastical garden. The people often cultivated the gifts that their voices gave and used the power to benefit themselves and their society. The jeweler could use his baritone to bring precious stones from the earth, hence the job. There was a chef who could make dough rise and a tailor who could change the color of any material to that of her choosing, to name others. This magic made Harmelude a wonderful home, and only one person in the last hundred years had left the island in search of other things. The tragedy that had befallen the kingdom only a week ago was the direct result of that action.

Prince Scabor was the only person in the entire kingdom who's singing was nothing more than singing. Fairly good singing, but still, and this was a huge point of contention between himself and practically everyone else. He tried many times to bring about some change, even a miniscule one, but no matter the circumstances, none ever came. So, Nuvo's older brother grew up with envy of his peers, watching helplessly as children gurgled their first words and created fragments of fireworks or snow while he, at nearly thirty, could do nothing. This scratched his heart so deeply that eventually the envy turned to sorrow and then the sorrow to rage. He packed his things and left by ship in the middle of night without a parting word to anyone. Nuvo and her parents were devastated. Perhaps they wouldn't have been if they had known what Scabor's hardened heart would make him to do.

He journeyed far from home and into the lands of the world government's jurisdiction. Despite being with people who, outside of the occasional devil fruit user, didn't have otherworldly powers, Scabor was still irrevocably lonely, and began to drink heavily. He would get himself into a stupor and, desperate for the attention he felt he'd unfairly been denied all his life, would tell anyone willing to listen all about the mystical land of song that he'd left behind. Most dismissed what he said as a drunken man's rambling, but some did not, and among those who believed was a Celestial Dragon.

The Dragon took the story he'd overheard back to Mariejois, where he collected four of his fellow world nobles and their enslaved reinforcements. He then tracked down Scabor and offered him immense power in exchange for taking them into Harmelude, convincing him that they only wanted to see the extraordinary things he'd earlier described. But, of course, that isn't ALL they wanted. Scabor had probably realized that from the start. Scabor had also probably realized that he would be killed or worse if he refused anyway.

Upon arriving, the Celestial Dragons immediately began rounding up innocent citizens whose gifts they found entertaining to enslave. Others they simply interrogated as to what the source of this vocal magic was, so that they may have it for themselves. Of course, no one really knew the answer to that question, other than that people who were born here had it and others did not. This was not a satisfying answer for these brutes, and so everyone on the island was terrorized for days. The monstrous Dragons tried every method thinkable to understand the song magic, and at one point even had the throats of ten Harmeludian children slit, so that the vocal cords could be examined. The King and Queen had tried to stop all the abuse, claiming that Harmelude was not part of the World Government and that exempted them from the territory of Celestial Dragons, but there is no reasoning with such cruelty, and the threat of total destruction of their kingdom forced Nuvo's parents into allowing the Dragons to stay.

Completely trapped, Nuvo took matters into her own hands. Or her own mouth, rather.

Nuvo's gift of song had taken everyone a while to fully comprehend. In her infancy, things began appearing in front of the child when she cooed in rhythm. Random baby things; toys, milk, the like. Her parents thought she had the ability to levitate objects at will, but never seemed able to catch the items floating about. They only saw them by the time they were in Nuvo's tiny hands. Then as she got older, she would make up songs about the most decadent desserts she could, and someone would find her eating the same dessert a moment later. Where had it come from? No one had prepared and given a child an entire chocolate cake, of course, and she had certainly not made it herself. She had no education in cooking and not enough height to reach the necessary ingredients even if she did know what they were, so how? It continued to develop as she aged; anything Nuvo wanted and sang for, she found herself possessing. Sweets, clothes, books…it went on and on. Eventually everyone reached the nearly impossible conclusion that unlike the other citizens of Harmelude, Nuvo didn't have the ability to alter her surroundings. Nuvo had the rare ability to manipulate the reality surrounding those surroundings. If she could imagine it and sing about it, then she could manifest it.

The gift did have it's limitations, as any power does. She could not alter any events of the past, so miracles like bringing the dead back to life weren't possible. In fact, she wasn't able to alter or conjure people at all. She couldn't sing about a person and force them to appear in front of her or sing someone out of one location and into another. She also couldn't age a person forward or back and couldn't make a sick person well. She couldn't change someone's looks or force someone to feel an unwanted emotion or hypnosis of any kind, etc. She could only summon objects, no living things, and those objects had to exist in reality; she couldn't think up an imaginary friend, sing about them, and make them real. Even with these boundaries, her power was among the most brilliant that the island had ever seen. She could provide any physical resource necessary, and bring it forth in abundance. She couldn't cure sick people, but she could make the medicine they required available, as long as the disease had a known cure. If the harvest of crops was poor, she could give nearly unlimited amounts of food to replace the loss. On one occasion, for a festival held to celebrate the new year, she had made it rain confetti flakes of pure gold all over the main square of Harmelude. Making small things fall from the sky was one of Nuvo's greater skills and favorite pastimes, and in her twenty-three years she had made rain from flower petals, wine, and a number of other fun things.

But she didn't want to think of that now. Her last rainstorm was still etched into every corner of her mind, and the memory caused tremendous pain. The torture from the Celestial Dragons had gone on for nearly a fortnight before they had finally given up ascertaining the singing magic for themselves and, having already enslaved those who had gifts that appealed to their fancies, they prepared themselves to return with their new toys to Mariejois. Nuvo had been absolutely forbidden by her parents to use her gift since the Dragon's arrival. They knew that if the extent of her power was discovered, she'd be snatched up and sold to the highest bidder or worse. Nuvo knew this too, so despite her rage at their invasion, she had held her melodic tongue. She couldn't fight them; she had never weaponized her gift before and even if she wanted too, she knew the repercussions of attacking the Dragons could result in Harmelude being destroyed. In her right mind, she never would have done it.

But when she'd done it, she wasn't in her right mind.

It was the day the Celestial Dragons were set to leave. Everyone had gathered at the docks to wave tearful goodbyes to friends and family members who had been enslaved. The scene was morose, and it took every bit of Nuvo's self-control not to summon a mountain to crush the ships and the Dragons all together. Just before boarding, one of the Dragons used a speaker den den mushi to address the crowd. He had a slimy politician's smile as he spoke. "I have an announcement." There had never been such a potent silence. "As we have thusforth been unable to possess the magical resources present on this island, we have decided to declare Harmelude a territory of the world government, so that we may have access at any time to the resources present. This action will allow us the opportunity to bring larger numbers of our own scientists, doctors, and others to help us understand this island's unique properties. In the future, we-"

"NO!" the King roared. "I have foolishly allowed you to continue your brutality against my people in the hopes that you would leave us behind when you'd had your fill, but this is enough! It's preposterous! I will never submit my kingdom to your full control!"

It happened so quickly. As the King kept screaming, the slimy smile slipped from the Dragon's face. He put down the den den mushi mouthpiece and reached into his robes. He pulled out a gun, aimed, and shot the King of Harmelude square in the forehead. Then for good measure, he shot the Queen too. Nuvo, who had only a moment ago been standing between her parents at the docks, was now splashed with their blood and surrounded on either side by their corpses.

The Celestial Dragon then pointed the gun at Nuvo and used his other hand to retrieve the mouthpiece. "Does anyone else here have any complaints about being welcomed into the World Government?" Silence. Nuvo felt foggy, but the realization of what she had to do slammed her mind into focus. She no longer had any fear of Harmelude being destroyed; her home had been doomed from the moment that the Dragons set foot in it. It would never return to its former peace now and the people would never heal from the wounds inflicted. Orphaned and at the wrong end of a gun, Nuvo opened her mouth.

"_YOU ARE MADE OF CRUELTY AND BRING NOTHING BUT PAIN_

_SO TO PUNISH YOUR WICKEDNESS, NOW LET IT RAIN_

_POISON THAT OF YOUR LIFE WILL DEPRIVE_

_DRENCH ALL BUT ME, LEAVE NO ONE ALIVE!"_

She screamed the words more than sang them, and for a moment nothing happened. The Dragon laughed. "What was that? A wicked witch spell?" The other dragons laughed too, but the crowd didn't. People began to panic all around Nuvo. "Why?" someone yelped. "Why would she do this?" People started to run for cover. "What are you all so afraid of?" The dragon asked. But no one needed to answer. Toxic drops began to fall from the sky, melting through anything they touched.

Everyone was screaming as their skin oozed from their bones. The ships sank. The docks collapsed. Fish who were hit with the poison rain penetrating the water floated to the surface. Buildings sizzled and dissolved. Every citizen of Harmelude had gathered at the docks that day, and in a matter of minutes, every one of them was dead. The Celestial Dragons too. Everyone except Nuvo.

She had stood entirely still for the duration of the storm, and in her one spot, no poison had fallen. She had never exerted such control over her power before and she had certainly never done anything over such a large amount of ground. She had never killed a person, either. Now she had killed almost a thousand.

The weight of her crime settled over her, and she found herself numb_. It was a mercy_ she told herself, and truly she believed it. People don't recover from the kind of injuries the Dragons had inflicted. She knew she never would. It had all been too much. _But then_, Nuvo thought in a dark part of her mind, _why did I leave myself alive?_

As the lift finally stopped on level six of Impel Down, she almost wished she hadn't. When the Celestial Dragons didn't return to Mariejois on the appointed day, an investigation was launched by the Marines. They found her naked on the beach, seemingly dazed. She told them her name and that she was Princess of Harmelude, but then refused to speak another word to anyone. They found what little remained of the kingdom and she was promptly arrested, considering her suspicious status as the sole survivor of whatever disaster had occurred there, which was a great mystery to everyone but Nuvo.

Outraged by the disappearance of five of their own, the other Celestial Dragons wanted her head on a spike. But the Marines had no proof that she'd committed any crime, so she couldn't be legally executed. They'd interrogated her for hours, but she claimed to have no idea what happened at the docks that day. She said she hadn't gone there at all because it was all too sad, and when her parents never returned to the castle, she went out looking for them and made a grisly discovery. After that, she was in shock, and didn't remember losing her clothes or going down to the beach where she was found. She also claimed that her voice was like her brothers in that it had no special magic power. A curse that ran in the royal family, she had explained. She even sang a song to prove this lie, and fortunately it worked. She may have even been released, except that she was the Princess of the kingdom, and the Celestial Dragons claimed that since her kingdom was responsible for the deaths of their allies, she should at least be imprisoned for life, if not killed. The logic was backwards, but the Dragons ruled over the Marines, so Nuvo got her sentence.

She honestly wasn't significantly upset. She was being imprisoned for a crime that she did in fact commit, so it wasn't entirely unfair. If she hadn't been safely locked away, vengeful Dragons might have killed her anyway. And since no one knew the truth about her voice, she could probably escape when the time was right. She knew she'd have to wait a while; her face was all over the papers with headlines shouting things like 'ENTIRE KINGDOM DECIMATED, BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS SOLE SURVIVER!' and '5 CELESTIAL DRAGONS KILLED IN HARMELUDE MYSTERY!' When she felt like enough time had passed for the press to die down, she could make her move.

Magellan and the guards exited the elevator and dragged Nuvo along the hallway. "This is the Infinite Hell" said Magellan. "It holds prisoners awaiting death row or those with life sentences. You are being placed in a solitary cell. You will be chained to the floor. You will be unchained once daily to eat while supervised and then once a week to be bathed by hose."

"Why solitary? Am I considered such a serious threat?"

"It is for your own protection. This floor holds the most dangerous criminals in the world. You are the only woman to currently be serving a sentence here, and I didn't think tossing you in the middle of twenty bloodthirsty men, some of whom haven't seen a woman in years, was the wisest choice."

"I see. Thank you for that courtesy."

Magellan laughed dryly. "You're also the only person who's ever thanked me for putting them here."

She was placed on her back on the cold stone floor and held there by chains that came from the walls and wrapped around each of her limbs and her waist so that she was spread-eagle. She couldn't move at all. The chains were all secured by a large padlock at the waist. Once they were finished, the guards and Magellan left without another word.

It was so unnervingly dark.

It would take generous creativity and stealth to get out of this place. It was an enormous facility and she'd lost count of how many security snails she'd seen on the way down. There were several powerful guards on staff. She had to bide her time, but she had no intention of staying glued to the floor the entire duration of her visit. She had to think up a way to free one of her hands without simply destroying the chain so the guards wouldn't realize she was able to move, then she had to summon a key to unlock and relock the padlock. She decided it would be best to wait at least a week before attempting anything, just so she could have a better idea of the time frame when meals were delivered and when the bathing might come. For now, she was simply stuck.

Nuvo knew it was of grave importance to keep her wits, because solitary was practically designed to make you lose them. She had to do something to entertain herself as not to be swallowed by boredom. So, for the first time since she brought down the poison rain, she used her gift.

"_Kept here alone, I shall not cry_

_make bubbles fall, down from my sky_

_every color, and every size_

_surround me now, with happy lies."_

The bubbles fell gently from the ceiling of her cell, popping noiselessly when they hit the ground or her body. She found herself smiling, despite the grimness of it all. She'd done this endlessly in her childhood. When they were very young, she and Scabor would dance around the ballroom in pretend dress-up clothes, losing themselves in Nuvo's bubble storms. "Make more, Nu! Make more!" her brother would say, and she would, until the floor was soaked and their parents shooed them off so the servants could begrudgingly clean it all up. Her smile faded quickly. Gods above, the ache that came with those memories now.

"_Fall down no more, circles of air_

_The hurt you bring, too much to bear_

_Let me be here, lost in the dark_

_So my thoughts may, sadly embark."_

After a while of being submerged in the sensory deprivation tank that was her cell, Nuvo found herself drifting into sleep_. I just have to keep my sanity_ she thought sleepily. _As long as I have my head, as long as I remember that I can leave this place if I plan carefully, I'll be alright. It'll be easy. _


	2. Chapter 2

Nuvo had been imprisoned for three months. It had NOT been easy.

The meals came at midday and were worse than she imagined prison food could be. The guards would undo her chains just enough to sit her up and shovel the food into her mouth. If she spat it out, the guards would scoop what spittle they could and ram it back into her mouth again. She had to learn to chew and swallow very quickly, for the guards were always in a hurry, and would shove in bite after bite regardless of if you had finished the previous one. After the meal, they would forcefully brush her teeth. She didn't know what the point of it was, some hygiene protocol that the prison had to legally follow, perhaps, but it was dreadful.

The baths were worse. Nuvo had arrived at Impel Down on a Tuesday, and the first had come three days later, and then once weekly after that. Two guards would come down, unchain her, strip her entirely, and use a hose to spray her down. The water had enough pressure to slam her into the wall of her cell on full blast, and the guards seemed to enjoy that setting the most. It wasn't the water pressure or the nudity that bothered her; she wasn't ashamed of her appearance. She'd been called the rose of Harmelude once. What was bothersome was the cold. The water was less than warm when it came out of the hose, but after the guards were finished, her hair, skin, and the cell would be dripping wet, and then it was frigid. The baths came in the evening, so the chill of night only made matters worse.

Luckily, with her gift, Nuvo fared better than the other prisoners with these two tortures. She often gave herself a fresh fruit after prison meals. She daren't give herself more, because it would look suspicious if she didn't lose weight on the prison diet. Bath-days merited a summoning of quiet warm winds to dry her off. She wouldn't summon towels or blankets because there was no place to hide them after she was finished. Vanishing things was much harder than summoning them, and Nuvo had struggled with this part of her ability ever since she could remember. Her mother had joked that her power was like words; once they were out, they couldn't be taken back again.

Her mother would have been proud of her solution to the chain situation though. She had simply added a few extra links to the chain holding her right arm, so instead of being pinned above her head, she could lower her hand to her waist, where the master padlock was. As long as she held her arm in the above-her-head position when the guards came, she was in the clear. Conjuring up a key to unlock the padlock had been child's play, and so she could easily unchain herself to walk freely about her cell or do other exercise. She hid the key in the hole in the floor where the chamber pot was kept. It was disgusting, but how else do you go when you're chained to the floor? The guards switched the used pot for a clean one each day at mealtime, so at least you didn't have to smell it consistently, but being forced to sit in your own mess, some of which usually remained in your clothes after you did your business, until next bath-day when you were hosed down and given a somewhat clean uniform, was extremely unpleasant.

The worst thing about her plight, though, wasn't any of those unpleasantries. It was the quiet. The guards never spoke while they performed their duties and she was in solitary, so the only voice that Nuvo had heard for a quarter year was her own. The loneliness was crushing. She realized that it was the thing that made people go insane here. The lack of conversation and of human touch that didn't involve forcing food into your throat.

Singing helped though. She sang nearly all the time, often for no purpose other than to entertain herself. She didn't even use her gift very frequently; enough to keep it sharp and ready, but not enough to catch any attention. She sang songs that she knew by heart and sometimes she made up new ones. She sang about everything.

Today had been a bath-day, and after the guards had gone, Nuvo started her bath-day ritual of unchaining herself and walking about her cell, using her usual song to bring warmth through the walls and over herself. She'd written it during her teen years, and singing it to herself in a low, sultry voice had been one of her favorite things to do on a cold day in her bedroom in the castle.

"_Warm winds please,_

_your gentle breeze,_

_rise through the floor_

_and between my knees._

_Slip and slide,_

_over my thighs._

_caress my chest,_

_then up to my eyes._

_Next my hair,_

_place your warmth there, _

_then through the room,_

_let heat fill the air."_

She ran through it twice and then began to feel cozy and lazy. She rechained herself on the floor and got as comfortable as she could in such a position. She was just starting to nod off when a voice sliced through her drowsiness.

"That one is my favorite."

She had never become fully awake so quickly. For a moment she thought she'd dreamt it. Then it came again.

"It's longer than so many of your others. I particularly enjoy the middle verse."

She rapidly used her secret key to unchain herself and ran to the left side of her cell, sure that the sound was coming from somewhere in that direction. Who could it be? A guard? No. For their own safety they were never on the floor outside of meal and bath duties, and a guard so close as the voice was would surely have heard her removing her chains and reported it. It had to be another prisoner. Someone else in a solitary cell of his own, close enough to her to hear her singing. And to hear it regularly.

"How long have you been there?"

There was no response, and suddenly Nuvo was terrified that perhaps there had been no real voice at all. What if her mind was beginning to slip? What if it was already gone and she just didn't know? Fear gripping her soul, she tried again.

"Please talk to me. Please. I'll give you something!"

"What?"

Relief. Such relief. The voice was real, and definitely belonging to a man.

"I'll sing a song for you!"

"You sing songs for me already. You just didn't know it until now."

His voice was smoked honey; slow and seductive, and spoken with an air of condescending authority that didn't suit an imprisoned man. But to be in this Hell, you had to have committed a profoundly wicked crime. He could be anyone, but whoever he was, he was almost certainly dangerous. Nuvo would not allow herself to forget this, but she was also desperate to keep hearing his voice. She'd never wanted anything so badly. But she wasn't about to let him know that.

"That's not true. I've sung songs _to_ you without knowing, but I've never sang a song _for_ you."

He chuckled, and it sent shivers down her spine, despite the warmth of her cell.

"I suppose you're right. Let's make an agreement, then. Impress me with your song, and we can talk. But-"

"Deal."

"You don't want to know what happens if I'm not impressed?"

"You will be."

He laughed again. Delicious.

"Sing for me, songbird."

Nuvo thought for a moment, then decided on what she felt she was best at summoning: food.

"_Have you ever seen,_

_anything so keen,_

_as a perfectly ripe_

_chocolate dipped strawberry?_

_Once in your lips_

_your mind takes trips_

_to lovely summer nights _

_some place kinder than this."_

In the silence that followed, she knew he was chewing. She also knew he was impressed. Nuvo was impressed herself. It had been difficult to conjure the treat precisely at the mouth of someone she couldn't see, had never seen before, and whom she wasn't sure of the exact location of, but she'd done it, and felt very proud. Her ability was still sharp, even after months in this place.

Months. He'd kept himself hidden for MONTHS_._

"Well, that is an _interesting_ parlor trick. Hardly seems threatening though. How does a girl who makes fruit appear with lyrics end up in the deepest level of Impel Down?"

He thought she could only conjure food. Good. She still had no clue who he was, and letting a complete stranger know the full extent of her ability didn't seem responsible.

"I used my parlor trick to poison five Celestial Dragons." It was a partial truth. What harm was it to let her new friend think she had simply used food to poison them? "And you?"

"I abused my power as a King."

_Hmmm_. He wasn't telling her whole truths either. Plenty of Kings abused their power and didn't end up here.

"What's your name?"

"Now, why would you want to know a silly thing like that?"

She laughed this time.

"What may I call you then?"

"You may call me Joker."

_Joker. Why does that seem familiar? _

"And you?" he asked, mimicking her tone from earlier.

"I think songbird is appropriate."

There was a pause, then he spoke again.

"It's absolutely a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine. Shall we speak again tomorrow? Same time same place?"

He laughed again. Nuvo had a new favorite sound.

"Indeed. Goodnight, songbird."

"Goodnight, Joker."

Nuvo fell asleep shortly after that, Joker's voice still singing 'goodnight' in her head. For the first time since she'd been imprisoned, she didn't feel completely alone. Our Joker would never have admitted it, but upon hearing her speak directly to him for the first time, he felt a little less lonely himself.

…

Over the next several months, a strange friendship was born. Strange because they'd never once seen each other and, were it not for the unfortunate circumstances, they would never have met at all. But prison creates strong bonds, and the two spoke daily; beginning in the afternoon and ending deep in the evening. They didn't dare speak before mealtime, lest they be heard and separated, and Nuvo felt that her mornings crept by agonizingly slow.

But eventually the guards would go and the conversation would begin. Neither of them was fond of mundane small talk. Sometimes they would muse together over life's difficult philosophical questions. Other times they would swap lighthearted stories from their lives before Impel Down. They both came from royalty, so politics and current affairs were also hot topics. Through means that she could not begin to understand, Joker had connections, even here. He always knew what was going on outside the prison walls, and kept her up to date.

The fact that he was able to do this made Nuvo realize that before imprisonment, he must have been a person of substantial social significance. It was one of the few clues he had given her about who he really was. Despite all their talking, Joker largely remained a mystery to her. There were topics of conversation that were implied by one or both of them to be too sensitive to discuss, and personal information about their pasts, their crimes, and even their real names fell into this category. But for every secret that Joker kept, Songbird kept one of her own.

She still refused to show him the full extent of her ability. This frequently caused her guilt, because she was able to move freely about her cell while he was likely bound to the floor, but to make up for it she often sang for him, and sent yummy foods to his mouth at least once a day. One of his favorite pastimes was to challenge her with requests for complicated foods for her to conjure; things with rare ingredients or a tedious cooking process. He sometimes made it very difficult, but Nuvo always bested him, not that he was ever once upset to lose. She'd sent him a small blueberry tart today.

"Delectable. I don't know how I ever managed without your company."

More guilt accompanied his compliment. Nuvo knew it wouldn't be much longer before she made an escape. She had lost count of how many days she'd spent in Impel Down after the first few months, but she knew it must be close to a year. Plenty of time for her name and face to be out of the newspapers. Surely, she was practically forgotten by now. Out of sight, out of mind. She was more than thrilled by the prospect of leaving, of seeing the world outside this room, even if it meant living as a fugitive for the rest of her life. But the idea of leaving Joker behind made her feel sick. She had considered taking him with her, but that would be incredibly risky. Two high security prisoners on the loose would merit a more serious manhunt than only one, and he may be a higher profile criminal than herself. He didn't sound old, but he did sound older than her, and Nuvo had no idea how long he'd been here or what that time may have done to his physical condition. Was he even capable of escaping with her if he wanted too? He may not even want to take the risk of going with her; being caught could mean execution.

There was also a part of Nuvo that didn't allow herself to fully trust Joker, no matter how badly she wished she could. After all, he did something very wrong to end up here. But after being betrayed by Scabor and abused by the Celestial Dragons, she had done something very wrong too, and that was a part of her history that perhaps he alone could understand, if she told him. But she didn't think she'd be able to fully trust anyone ever again. Even him.

"I'm glad you enjoy my gifts. It's the least I can do, really."

"I wish I could give you something worthwhile in return."

"Dear Joker, your company and conversation are more than worthwhile to me."

"If you say so." He drawled. "What shall we discuss today?"

"Don't ask me, it's your turn to choose the first topic."

He thought for a moment.

"What sort of things did you wear before?"

Nuvo was surprised at the personalness of the question, but it didn't faze her for long.

"Nothing. Not a stitch. I came from a kingdom of nudity and hedonism." She deadpanned. He gave a boisterous laugh, and she laughed with him. "But really, I wore simple gowns mostly. Velvets in winter, silks in summer. Dark colors. Green was my favorite. And you?"

"I also enjoyed silks and velvet, but I found myself more drawn to neon colors. I liked standing out. I have a passion for sunglasses. And there was always my pink feather coat, of course."

"I'm sorry, your _what_?"

"My pink feather coat. Long sleeved and flowing down to my calves. It was glorious. I think I miss it the most."

"I'm sorry, do you mean to tell me that you are a fallen king, imprisoned in the worst level of Impel Down, chained to the floor because you were considered so terrible, but in your previous day to day life you pranced around in a full length, feathered, _pink_ coat?"

"Yep."

"Well, I'm sure you were a very intimidating ostrich man."

"A damn good-looking ostrich man, I'll have you know."

Nuvo was about to retort when the unmistakable sound of the guard's footsteps sounded down the hall. Her pulse quickened. Why were they here? It wasn't bath-day and mealtime had been hours ago. Had they heard them? Nuvo flung herself back on the ground and had just managed to hide her key when three guards walked into her cell. One leaned down and used his own key to unlock her padlock.

"What's going on? Is it bath-day?" she asked, knowing full well that it wasn't.

"You're coming with us." said the unlocker.

"What? Where am I going?"

No response. That couldn't be good. This was the Infinite Hell. The only people who left this place were death row prisoners who were bound for their execution ceremonies. But that didn't make any sense. Nuvo wasn't scheduled to be executed. She tried to think of some other answer, fighting with the panic overwhelming her senses as the guard removed her chains. She had once heard a rumor that there was a medical facility at Impel Down. A cold fear slithered from her heart, pumping through her veins until she felt dizzy. Was she going to be experimented on?

That must be it. Someone had heard her singing and knew that she had lied about having a gift, and now they were going to study her. They were going to slit her throat to see her vocal cords. Amputate and dissect her tongue. Look at bloody cells from her palate under a microscope to see if they could determine the cause of her ability.

As the guard finished releasing her and began to stand her up, she began to twist her body in an attempt to wriggle away. "NO!" she screamed. "I DON'T WANT TO GO! LEAVE ME HERE! LEAVE ME ALOOOONE!" But his grip was tight, and the other guards were coming to help him. _I have no choice,_ she thought_. I must make my escape right now. There's no alternative. I'm sorry, dear Joker, that I couldn't say goodbye._

She took in a breath and opened her mouth, but before she was able to cry out a single syllable, incredible pain exploded from the back of her head. By the time she realized that she'd been hit, the guard's armored fist was coming down again, cracking against the same spot as before, and Nuvo felt her consciousness start to slip. The room blurred. Imaginary pink feathers danced in front of her eyes as the fist came down once more, and then there was only black.

…

When she awoke, there was still only blackness before her eyes. Someone had blindfolded her. Her ears were still ringing from the blows to her head, but she could make out a sound that reminded her of the roar of the ocean. _No_, she realized, _not the ocean…people. Lots and lots of them. Shouting people. An arena?' _Her arms were tied together above her head and secured to something holding her up. She could still smell the ammonia and lavender from the smelling salts that had been used to rouse her. She was still trying to get her bearings when a voice came over a loudspeaker, quieting the crowd.

"Everyone, please calm yourselves. Now I know everyone is excited to get on with today's event, but first we must take a somber moment to remember why we are here. A year ago, today, the woman you see before you committed one of the most dastardly, no, THE dastardliest crime in the history of the known world. I know you all remember…"

The audience, of whom there must have been hundreds, booed from every direction.

"Yes, that's right! Princess Nuvovniya of the kingdom of Harmelude is considered to be responsible for the murder of five of our esteemed brothers in supremacy! No one has dared to commit a more insufferable crime in our lifetime, and we are here today to ensure that no one ever will! A permanent imprisonment is not punishment enough! So, on this anniversary of the loss of our brothers, one lash of the whip will be bestowed on this criminal for each of the lives she has destroyed! What do you think of that, praised citizens of Mariejois?!"

Cheers. A cacophony of demonic cheers.

Someone from the side removed Nuvo's blindfold, and she was temporarily dazed by the light reflected from all the white clothing surrounding the post she was tied to. It was a small coliseum, and there were Celestial Dragons everywhere, whole families of them, and the sight of children younger than five pointing at her and cheering like their parents made her nauseous. The sound of footsteps approaching from behind, and a crack of a whip, made her even sicker.

_I only killed five. That's five lashes. It'll be quick. _

As the whipper continued to practice, two large screens were lowered over an area of the coliseum where no people were sitting. Projector den-den mushi showed an image that she recognized. It was the slimy politician one, the one who'd shot her parents in Harmelude.

"Let the first lash be for Saint Marlettow!"

The whip slid through the skin on her back like a sword through butter. The burn was excruciating. She felt blood trickle over her buttocks and then down the back of her right leg, seeping into her striped prisoner's pants. Through tear-blurred eyes, Nuvo saw another image appear on the screens. Another Dragon.

"Let the second lash be for Saint Relairmond!"

Again, the whip came. Nuvo could no longer stand, and was kept upright only by her bound wrists. The ropes rubbed painfully against her skin. Another image.

"Let the third lash be for Saint Weatherford!"

Again. She refused to scream or cry out, lest she accidentally summon something.

"Let the fourth lash be for Saint Rupel!

Again.

"Let the fifth lash be for Saint Carmilan!

Her shirt was in tatters. She could barely see. Flashes erupted before her eyes. _Cameras_… she realized slowly. _Reporters…_ That truth stung more than any of the lashes had. Of course there would be reporters here. Of course this would be a major scoop. Of course she would be on the front page of every newspaper in the world all over again. All her careful planning, all the waiting, all the disgusting meals and freezing baths and heavy chains and soul crushing isolation in Hell; it had all been for nothing.

"Now there is a line of blood on her back for every brother whose blood is on her hands! But this is not the equivalent of every life she is responsible for having destroyed! She will now receive a lash for every spouse whom she made a widow!"

_Five more…_

"And one for every child she has orphaned!"

_I don't know…how many…_

After another three lashes, Nuvo mercifully passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

Nuvo awoke to the familiar darkness of her cell. It was night, judging by the chill in the room. Her head throbbed and her injured back scraped horribly against the floor as she tested her ability to move her arm. She could still bring it to her waist; the guards either hadn't noticed the extra links or didn't think it mattered since they had no idea she could unlock herself.

Her key must have still been in the chamber pot compartment. After a lot of careful fenagling and severe protest from her back, she was able to wedge her arm between her body and the floor, then down into the hole to feel for the key. It took longer than usual, but she did find it, and eventually managed to draw her arm back around the front and unlock herself. She pushed the chains away gently and very slowly sat up.

The small amount of scabbing that had accumulated on her lashes ripped apart as she sat up, and a groan came from her lips as she felt the fresh blood soak into her shirt. They had given her a new one after the whipping, but it did little to protect her wounds. She could summon bandages, but there was no way she had the energy or reach to apply them herself and, even if she could, come bath-day the guards would wonder where the treatment had come from. She would just have to let the wounds heal on their own as best they could.

Suddenly overcome with despair, Nuvo let hot tears fall down her face. She was exactly where she had started a year ago. Arguably worse off than before. She wasn't sure how long she'd been knocked out or how long she'd been away from Impel Down, but the story of her whipping had doubtlessly been published in the news by now. She had defied the World Nobles and now they'd made an example of her. For all she knew, they'd whip her again every year just to remind everyone of their place. She'd been a fool to think they would allow the world to forget her name. An utter fucking fool.

"_I swear to you now I have nothing to lose_

_So can I please get a good bottle of booze?"_

A brown bottle appeared in front of her, and she gingerly reached for it. Summoning a bottle had been stupid; she'd have to shatter it in her chamber pot later and hope the guards didn't notice. But as she uncorked the bottle and took a long swig, and then another, she didn't give a shit. So what if they saw it. What more could they do?

"Did you enjoy your trip?"

Joker's voice rolled over her in a sweet wave.

"Oh yeah," she choked out, and gulped down more of the booze. It burned all the way down. "Top-notch vacation. Excellent view from the room. Got a lot of great pictures. I'll have to show you sometime."

He didn't laugh.

"You don't sound well."

She had no decent reply. She guzzled more drink. She was nearly through a third of the bottle already.

"You were gone for over a week."

"They took me to Mariejois."

This time he had no reply. Finally, he spoke again.

"Are you injured very badly?"

"Yes, but unfortunately I think I'm going to live."

He didn't laugh that time either.

"Can't you sing yourself well?"

She froze mid sip. If he believed she was only capable of conjuring foods with her gift, there would have been no need to ask such a question.

"I can only summon food." She tested. "How could that help?"

"You're lying."

_Damn._

"Celestial Dragons all have personal chefs. As disliked as they are, do you honestly think people haven't tried to poison their food before? They won't eat anything not prepared by a trained chef of their own choosing. You may have told the truth about poisoning five of them to get yourself in here, but you didn't do it with food."

_Double damn._

"My sources told me about the killings in Harmelude. I found the whole story quite enticing. The newly discovered kingdom of song. An entire island destroyed under unexplainable circumstances. A Princess the tragic sole survivor, or the evil mastermind behind Harmelude's demise, depending on the paper you read. Then, merely a week after the story broke, you were here, singing to me in the dark. It wasn't hard to put the puzzle together. So, why don't you show me what you can really do, _Nuvovniya?"_

Her name was beautiful in his mouth.

Maybe it was because she was tipsy.

"How ungentlemanly of you, Joker, to know so much of me when I'm allowed to know so little of you."

"Did you receive news from the rest of the world in Harmelude?"

"Of course."

"Then you know more than you realize."

She didn't understand. "Who are you?"

He was silent for a long time. He'd been avoiding telling her, worried that she might abandon him once she knew. He was not typically the type of man to be flustered by the prospect of a woman's rejection, but these were not ordinary circumstances, and this woman had more than proven herself worthy of his friendship. The thought of losing that connection made him hurt. The days she'd been gone had driven him half mad. She had brought him laughter in hell, and that had earned her his respect. It was out of this respect that he finally admitted the truth.

"The kingdom I ruled is called Dressrosa."

She had read about the events at Dressrosa; about the King who'd been forced to cut down his own people, about the Tontatta dwarves forced into slavery, about the citizens turned into toys and forgotten by their families. The pirates behind it all, the Donquixote family, composed of multiple incredibly strong fighters and lead by a rejected Celestial Dragon turned underworld broker. _Joker was his codename on the black market, _Nuvo remembered, _but his real name…_

It clicked. How had the pink feather coat story not been the giveaway? Her voice was barely above a whisper as she breathed his name aloud for the first time.

"Doflamingo…"

He said nothing.

She gathered all the strength she could muster and forced herself to stand. She swayed on her feet, the result of the booze, the blood loss, or a mixture of the two. The recorked bottle in one hand and the key in the other, she staggered over to the left wall of her cell and braced herself against the cold stone.

"_I have no more strength for rhymes today._

_I need a path to his cell._

_Give me a fucking door." _

Her badly written song did the trick none the less, and a rough stone door appeared in front of her. If she hadn't been half drunk, she probably would have had the good sense to place it next to herself rather than directly in front of herself. But it was too late, and since she was leaning against the wall before it became a door, her weight propelled the door open, and so Nuvo landed flat on her face in Doflamingo's cell.

He inhaled sharply at the sudden appearance of the pale girl in a heap on the floor. There was a large red spot on the back of her shirt, less than a shade away from the hue of her hair, ringlets of which were currently scattered in every direction around her head. She groaned, then lifted her head to look at one of her hands.

"At least the booze survived." She laughed, then turned the bottle on its side and placed it on the floor. "Catch." She rolled the bottle toward Doflamingo and it stopped at his side, clinking against his chains. As she had hoped, his chain system was set up in the exact same way hers had been, except that his wrists and ankles had bands around them, separate from the other shackles and made of a different material. _Sea prism stone._

She tried to stand up again, but her strength failed and she felt faint. "I think I have to crawl the rest of the way. It might take a moment."

"Don't rush," he said gently. "I'm not going anywhere."

It took an embarrassingly long time, but eventually she managed to drag herself over to the center of the floor where he lay. Panting, she pushed herself into a lounging sort of position, the lower half of her body on the ground and the upper half against the chains at his waist. She presented the key and slid it into the padlock; miraculously, it worked.

"I'm sorry I didn't do that sooner." she sighed as he removed himself from his chains. "I wasn't sure I could trust you."

"And you trust me now?" he asked, standing up and stretching his arms above his head, causing his striped shirt to rise and reveal the abdominal muscles in his lower stomach. She recalled her concern about the negative impact prison might've had on his body and dismissed it. His physique was just fucking _fine_.

"Not really, but what's to fear? I would consider strangling me a kindness."

She snatched the bottle back up and tossed the cork aside. She offered it to Doflamingo and he took a large gulp, welcoming the burning sensation in his esophagus.

"Why haven't you escaped?" he asked.

"I was waiting for the press to die down. I thought if I was patient, people would forget about me, and it would be easier to get out and start fresh somewhere else. It turns out people don't forget you when you melt five celestial assholes together."

He grinned, and for the first time Nuvo allowed herself to really look at him. Tan, blonde, and bespectacled with red lensed sunshades, he looked ready for a beach outing minus the striped prisoners' uniform. _How in the world had he been allowed to keep his glasses or managed the tan?_ she wondered. He was freakishly tall; close to ten feet, easily towering over her five feet and stray inches. Now she knew why no one had dared comment on his ostentatious clothing choices before. She snickered at the thought and her shoulders lifted, shooting pangs of fresh pain through her spine. Doflamingo noticed her grimace.

"Let me look."

It didn't sound like a request, and Nuvo probably wouldn't have declined if it was, anyway. She turned her battered back to him and tried to lift her shirt, but every which way she moved her arms to lift caused further agitation to her wounds. She was ready to summon a dagger to slash the damn thing when she felt his breath directly behind her ear.

"Nuvovniya, you're only making it worse."

She'd been too occupied with the shirt to notice him sit down behind her. He handed her the bottle over her shoulder. She took it back gratefully and tossed back another swallow.

"You can just say Nuvo. It's what everyone called me…before…"

Her words died off as he gripped her shirt hem and started to lift, careful not to touch the lashes any more than necessary. His hands brushed against the unmarred skin on the sides of her stomach and ribcage as he lifted, and Nuvo had to suppress the shiver. It would be both mortifying and painful at the moment. She couldn't help but enjoy the feel of his touch. It had been ages since someone had touched her with any sort of humanity.

Doflamingo was also attempting to keep his pleasure hidden. She was a beautiful woman, but she was also half his age and seriously injured. Now was definitely not the time to let his thoughts linger over the softness of her flesh or the beauty of her figure, noticeable even through all the blood.

After gently tugging the shirt to her shoulders, Nuvo surprised him by gradually lifting her arms above her head, indicating that he should remove the piece of clothing entirely. He didn't hesitate to slip the thing over her head. After throwing it to the side, he placed his fingers at her neck, smoothing her hair over her shoulder to the front side of her body so that her bare back was in full view. She couldn't contain the shiver this time, but Doflamingo hardly noticed, too distracted by the sight of the whip's damage. There must have been nearly twenty long slices in Nuvo's back.

"This is serious. You should call up some medicine for yourself."

She shook the bottle, half gone now.

"Way ahead of you."

"Some real medicine. A disinfectant at least. Gangrene in wounds this deep could be fatal."

"The guards will notice if I'm treated."

"I doubt it. You'll still be in the bloodstained shirt and the next bath-day isn't for five days. It would make sense that you'd healed at least a little in that time. And if your baths are anything like mine, they spray you so hard that any dried blood on you would be gone in seconds anyway. The wounds may even reopen. They'd never know the difference."

She considered it, then decided that she didn't care whether or not the guards noticed anymore. She just wanted him to keep touching her. She blamed the booze for making her so reckless. She slurred some choppy lyrics and managed to summon a bowl of water, a rag, and a jar of antibacterial salve. He dipped the rag into the water and began to softly pat her back, cleaning the wounds as comfortably as possible.

"So, what can I call you?" she asked, wanting to focus on something other than her wounds. "There must be something shorter than Doflamingo. DO-FLA-MIN-GO. It's four syllables. That's ridiculous."

He chortled. "Your name is four syllables."

"Yeah, that's why I was called Nuvo instead."

"My crew called me Doffy."

She snorted. "Doffy? That's so…cute. It makes you sound like a duckling. A pink one, I'd wager."

He chuckled and started applying the salve, the pleasant feeling of his hands massaging in the medication silencing her teasing. "I'm only letting you get away with saying something so degrading because you're drunk."

"I deserve to be drunk." she whispered, scared that anything louder would give away how sensual this was for her. The booze had numbed most of the pain by now, and every place that his fingers glided over left a trail of goosebumps along her skin. He finished with the salve too soon for Nuvo's liking, but her back felt much better than it had when she'd first crawled in here. He grabbed the bloody shirt from the floor and helped slide it over her head again. She winced as it came down and grazed her back.

"It'll scar terribly." she grumbled. A permanent physical reminder of all the horrible things that the Celestial Dragons had done to her. She felt very drunk now, and she knew that pondering on those things in her state would only result in tears, and she didn't want that. Doffy had polished off the bottle after finishing her treatment, and was a bit more than tipsy himself.

"Don't worry." he said, still sitting behind her, breathing his words against her neck. "You could be mangled all the way to your toes, and you'd still be one of the most beautiful women in the New World."

If she hadn't been so smashed, she might've been embarrassed by his flattery. Instead she turned to face him and rose up from the floor to her knees, inching herself forward. She stared into his face, wondering what color his eyes were behind those glasses. She inched closer still, her nose only inches from his. Blushing like mad, she flung herself forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, the rest of her body toppling forward and slamming into his.

"Thank you for being my friend." she mumbled.

She felt immeasurably childish, but Doffy arranged his arms around her hips, returning the embrace as best he could without touching her back. It had been years since someone had hugged him, and more time than that since someone had hugged him out of friendship.

"And you for being mine, songbird."

Nuvo's mind was made up. She no longer cared about the amplified risks of being recently broadcast to the public. She was going to let her back heal, and then she was leaving Impel Down. And she was taking Doffy with her. Once they were out and safe, they could go their separate ways and start over._ Or maybe_, a tiny voice from the back of her head peeped, _you could start over someplace new, together_. Nuvo mentally shushed the voice. They would look even more suspicious together and just because they were friends who were sharing a drunken hug didn't mean that shacking up was in their future. Friend or not, she still couldn't be sure that he was completely trustworthy, so she decided to keep quiet about her decision to bring him along for now.

Pulling away from the embrace, Nuvo pretended to ignore the fact that she was straddling him. "I should get back to my cell. I need to rechain you for now, because of the guards, but I swear I'll come unchain you again tomorrow after the food comes." After resituating him and gathering the bowl, rag, salve jar, and bottle, she turned and stumbled back to the crude door. She leaned in the doorway. "Goodnight, Doflamingo. Thank you, again."

"Pleasure's all mine, Nuvovniya. Sleep well."

She closed the door and tried to make it vanish, but to no avail. Luckily, the door was so badly constructed that it blended rather well with the wall. Reminiscent of an entrance to a secret passageway, you could only really see it if you were looking for it. She had taken the bowl, jar, and bottle and wrapped them in the soiled rag, then stomped it. After dumping the glass pieces into the chamber pot, she shredded the rag and did the same with it. It wasn't like the guards were going to sift through the contents of her chamber pot, so she wasn't worried about the items being discovered anymore. She rechained herself and dropped the key into its usual hiding place.

The stone floor grated against her sensitive back, but as long as she didn't wriggle around too much, it wasn't awful. Wasted and laying in the dark, she couldn't keep her mind from replaying scenes from Mariejois. Every twisted detail her memory could bring forth, it did. The overwhelming volume of the crowd, the whip splitting her skin apart, the faces of the Nobles she'd ended. Then she was back at the Harmelude docks, watching what was left of her world melt into history. She remembered the salt of the sea mixing with the scent of death while her parent's eyes liquified and bubbled in their sockets at her feet. Nuvo tried to make her head stop spinning. The last thing she needed was to puke all over herself while bound like this.

With some controlled breathing and a little patience, the harsh memories slunk back to their own corner of her mind, and she calmed down. There was no point in letting the sadness of her past direct her thoughts; she couldn't change anything and turning into a grieving mess was not an option. She had to focus her energy on getting well and figuring out exactly how she was going to get them out of here.

She'd made her choice to set him free, but she wanted to exercise caution. Whether he was her true friend or not, she knew that Doflamingo was deranged, at least on some level. His actions at Dressrosa were beyond corrupt and she felt a need to hold him accountable for them, but judging him for those choices felt hypocritical. Yet she detected a certain difference in the morality of their crimes. In a moment of madness, she had totally lost control of herself and mass murdered her abusers along with the innocent inhabitants of her kingdom. He had used ambition and violence to meticulously take over a kingdom and manipulate its citizens over the course of several years, whilst simultaneously working as a warlord of the sea and an underground arms dealer. She understood that he couldn't change his past either, even if he desired too. And though she hated to admit something so evil, she couldn't help but respect the amount of work that he had put into gaining his power. On top of brute strength, it took an extremely intelligent mind to do what he'd done so successfully before his defeat, and Nuvo didn't want to make the mistake of underestimating him. She couldn't ignore the possibility of him lying to her about their friendship and assisting her tonight only because he realized that she had the potential to help him escape.

Disliking the bitter taste that questioning the validity of her only friendship was leaving in her mouth, Nuvo let her thoughts drift to simpler things, and soon she was asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Bubbles in every color of the rainbow fell all around her, showing her the reflection of her younger self in disproportionate roundness. She looked down at her hands, so small and clean. "Nu!" a boy's voice came from far away. "Nu! Where are you?" She turned in a full circle, but all she could see were bubbles for miles. They didn't seem to be popping, just bouncing up as more fell down. "You can't catch me, Nu! You can't, can't, can't!"

She began to run through the bubbles, shoving the unnatural orbs out of her way as she searched for the boy. She felt like she'd run for a decade when she finally saw him, a lanky thing with hair as deep a bloodred as her own. Scabor.

"Can't catch me!" he cried, and took off into the bubble storm. The area was so dense with the unbreaking bubbles now, she was practically swimming through a ball pit. "Make more, Nu! Make more!" he sounded like he was underwater. _But I'm not making them in the first place,_ she thought,_ and there are already so many…_

"Where are you?" she yelled, and found that she sounded waterlogged too. "Scabooooor! Where?"

"Here I am, Nu." he said, impossibly close behind her, making her jump.

"You frightened me!" she complained, but smiled anyway. "Why aren't the bubbles popping?"

"I dunno." he laughed, then looked down. "What's that on your hands?"

She looked down and saw that her hands had changed. They were her real hands, her grown-up hands, and they were covered in thick blood. It was fresh. She felt her stomach lurch and looked back up at her older brother. He was grown up now too. And there was a bullet hole in his chest. More started to appear. His face bore no expression, but his eyes flickered down to her hands again. She looked too, and now there was a gun there.

When she looked up again, her brother was on fire. She watched helplessly as he burned. A loud pop rang in the air as one of the bubbles disappeared, and then another, and another, until the pops came so rapidly that it was impossible to discern one from another. Nuvo tried to scream, but nothing could be heard over the exploding bubbles. She knew she was going to explode too. Any minute now, she would be dead.

…

It was the sound of the rolling cart that the guards brought at mealtime that ripped her from the nightmare. Doused in sweat, she flinched at the squeaking wheels of the cart. The hangover was absurdly strong, and the last thing that she wanted was a mouthful of gruel right now, but she knew there was no other option. She just hoped that she didn't vomit it out while the guards were still here. The only thing worse than a mouthful of gruel would be a mouthful of regurgitated gruel scooped off the cell floor_. No, thanks_.

She was able to choke down the food and the guards swapped her chamber pot of shit and glass for an empty one with no awkward pauses or significant looks. They also didn't glance at the new door, and for the first time Nuvo was grateful that the prison was so dimly lit. As she ate, she let the events of the previous evening float through her head. She remembered the hug and felt her face heat. When she couldn't hear the squeaky cart wheels anymore, she yanked herself from her chains and flung open the door.

"Good afternoon." he groaned "Is your head throbbing as much as mine is?"

"_It throbs, to be sure,_

_But look, here's a cure!"_

And just like that, a full brown bottle was in her hand. The next few weeks were spent in this fashion, and the drunker that Doffy and Nuvo got, the flirter their interactions became. It was a problematic attraction, based in desperation and trauma, but outside the obvious physical element, their shared experiences in isolated confinement created a closeness unfound by most people in their lives, and that could not be ignored. Places like Impel Down change people, and an intimate friendship wasn't the worst thing you could gain from spending time here, no matter how inconvenient your newfound emotional attachment may be.

And Doffy did find himself emotionally attached. Nuvo's whipping had enraged him, even if he hadn't shown it. He now had even more reason to resent the Celestial Dragons, and he struggled to keep his anger at bay every time he checked on how much she had healed.

"It looks better every day. And the scarring isn't nearly as bad as you think. Just thin white lines, perfectly straight and flush with your skin. No raised bumps or anything. They used a good whip." he joked.

"Aw, did they? I'll have to write a thank you note." she snorted, lowering her shirt back down and turning to face him. They were both sitting cross-legged on the floor, boozing as usual.

"You're nearly healed. That means you'll be leaving soon."

She didn't deny it.

"Where will you go?" he asked.

"I don't know. After I get out of prison reach, I plan to float around for a while, until I reach land, I suppose. I can conjure money and food for myself, so my biggest problems are keeping afloat and finding somewhere I can live without being recognized. I'm thinking somewhere totally off the grid or somewhere so big I wouldn't be distinguishable. Alabasta, maybe."

He nodded and sipped his booze.

"What about you?" she continued. "If you got out, what would you do?"

He smiled and ran his tongue over his teeth, a habit that Nuvo detested herself for adoring.

"Easy. I'd go back to being a pirate. I couldn't settle down somewhere, and I don't recommend that you aim for it, either. Even if you could blend in someplace for a while, eventually someone would look at your face a little too long or say that you seemed familiar, and whether they actually recognize you or not wont matter, because the paranoia that they did will have you packing your bags in an instant. You'll just get stuck in that same cycle for the rest of your life, so you may as well just own the fact that you're a wanted criminal and stay on the run."

"You're right and I hate you for it." she grumbled. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not a pirate."

"Would you like to be?"

Nuvo didn't miss the implication in his tone. She understood that it wasn't particularly difficult to become a pirate; get a crew, raise a black flag, and steal some stuff and you've pretty much earned the title. But she could conjure basic necessities in abundance, so thievery seemed trivial. Some pirates were after power more than treasure, and that idea appealed to her. If one good thing had come out of the terrible events that unfolded in her homeland, it was the knowledge that her gift was stronger and more versatile than she had ever realized before. Weaponizing herself was an entirely new domain and she was eager to see how far her ability could go.

"I don't know. I've never considered the pirate's life. I'm not sure where I'd begin." she explained.

"Most start with a boat."

"Where would I get a boat?"

"You can make it rain gold and you're asking me how you'd manage to procure a boat?"

She glared at him playfully and took another swill.

"But I've never sailed! I've never even swum in the sea before!"

"I can't ever swim again. Didn't let it stop me. When you're on the sea, you don't have to worry whether people recognize you, because you're always in motion, so they can only hurt you if they catch you. And with power like yours, it would be very difficult. You would be freer than you've ever imagined."

Nuvo finished off her bottle and immediately refilled it, topping Doffy off too. Her face was flushed. "You make it sound like a dream."

"Forgive my bias. I miss it. Being on the sea with my family was as close to happy as I've ever been."

"What happened to your crew after you were sent here?"

"Most of them were sent here as well. My sources tell me that Sugar, Giolla, and Machvise are in the Crimson Hell. The ladies didn't have bounties and Machvise's was low compared to the rest of us. Dellinger and Gladius are in the Wild Beast Hell. Pica, Trebol, Senor Pink, and Diamante are all in the Starving Hell. Lao G was there too, but at his age he couldn't handle it. It's one of my deepest shames that I was not with him in his last moments."

He had never told her something so intimate, and her heart hurt for his loss. He sincerely cared for his crew, he called them family, and it was a small comfort to know that a majority of them were in the same building as himself, even if it was such an unhappy place.

"I wish I could meet them," Nuvo pondered. "I'll bet they're wonderful."

"Perhaps one day you will."

Sensing his sadness, Nuvo pushed a change of subject.

"Doffy…" she began lightly, treading carefully into her question. "What are your sources here?"

"That's a secret." he paused, then flashed her a grin. "If I tell you, you have to tell me a secret."

"What secret?"

"Whatever I ask, and you must tell me the truth. I want guaranteed honesty. Promise me."

"Alright. I promise." She was intrigued.

"Before taking over Dressrosa, my crew and I gathered plenty of gold and hid it in several locations. They were unbeknownst to anyone but us, so it wasn't seized by the World Government when we were arrested. I simply revealed two of those locations to two different guards in exchange for information. All they have to do is keep me in the know, and they're able to keep their families financially stable for life. Having two guards gives me twice as much intel and two points of view."

"That's brilliant."

"It's sufficient." His tone turned teasing. "Now, what songbird secret shall I ask for? Remember you must tell me the truth on penalty of death."

"Ahh yes, I swear it, my liege!" she laughed, but she felt nervous. What could he want to know? He already knew a great deal, including the fact that she was a mass murderer. His face was dark as he spoke, the teasing tone from earlier nowhere to be found.

"What is your deepest shame?"

Nuvo's stomach felt heavy. She knew the answer, but it was something she had planned to take to her grave. In fairness, he had told her of a great personal shame that he carried, and he knew her better than anyone alive. Her drunkenness also tempted her tongue to wag, and after all, she had promised her only friend that she would be honest.

"I didn't kill everyone on Harmelude with the poison rain," she said quietly. "Someone survived."

He arched an eyebrow, urging her to continue.

"After I stopped the downpour, I was in a state of shock. I wasn't sure what else to do, so I returned home, to the castle. We had originally taken a carriage to the docks that day, but I was walking now, and I barely remember the journey back at all, even though it must have been hours, because by the time I got home, it was dark out. I entered and went straight for my bedroom in the left tower. I opened the door and there, on the floor in a weeping mess, was my brother, Scabor."

She swallowed hard, recalling the sight of him crumpled on the rug. He had looked tiny, like when they were children.

"His back was to me, and he didn't bother turning around when I came in the room. He was sobbing hard, so when he spoke it was hard to understand him, but the gist of it was that he was sorry for everything. He hadn't gone to the docks because he couldn't face what he'd done, but he didn't want power anymore, he only wished to spend the rest of his days with me and our parents, if we'd forgive him. But I couldn't forgive him."

She was whispering now, unable to muster anything more.

"How dare he ask me so tremendous a favor? He was the one who brought those monsters to our shores. He was the reason our parents and everyone we knew were dead. I know the poison rain was my doing, and it's my burden to bear for always, but it only happened as a result of his betrayal. Of his poor, selfish choices. I wanted to pretend he wasn't Scabor, just some bastard who'd invaded and destroyed everything, but no matter how hard I tried to dehumanize him, he was still my big brother. The only family or trace of normalcy I had left. Yet, I _couldn't_ forgive him, even as a part of me wished I could."

Her throat was very tight.

"So, I walked around him to the bedside table and removed the pistol my father made me keep there, incase any enemy ever breached the castle walls. He finally looked at me, saw that I was soaked in blood, and started babbling questions, asking who's blood it was and why I had the gun. I didn't answer. I didn't know how. I just aimed and fired. I did it until there were no more bullets, and then I left him bleeding on my bedroom floor. I took off my dress, stained with fresh familial blood for the second time that day, and threw it down in the hallway. Then I wandered to the beach, where I stayed until the Marines came."

She felt tears dripping into her lap. She couldn't find the courage to look at him.

"So that's it, then. I slaughtered hundreds of innocent people, but my deepest shame is that, contrary to the fact that I loved him more than I have ever loved anyone before, I shot and killed my brother."

Doflamingo crawled forward and positioned himself directly in front of her, so that his crossed knees were nudging hers. He gently took her face in his hands, swiping the tear tracks and tilting her head up simultaneously. She couldn't see his eyes, but she knew he was looking straight at her. He lowered his forehead until it touched her own, and parted his lips. Nuvo watched him pull in cool air and exhale hot breath; she could feel the breeze of it on her mouth.

"So did I." he whispered.

…

That night, as she lay chained to the floor, Nuvo's thoughts were too jumbled to allow her to sleep. Doffy had told her all about his brother, Rosinante, and their traumatic childhood. She cried to think of him tied to that wall, with an entire village of people shooting at him because of who he was. He had only been ten years old. He hadn't judged her for killing Scabor, and she didn't judge him for killing Rosinante. This confessional had added another layer to their odd relationship. They each understood that there were not many people in the world who could understand their past experiences, and fewer still who could relate to spending time in the Infinite Hell. Nuvo had finally been forced to accept that she wanted to stay with Doffy after they escaped, but she had no idea if he felt the same. She didn't figure that he'd told many people the things he'd shared with her tonight, but that didn't necessarily mean he wanted her alongside him in the future. The thought of being abandoned by him had her eyes watering again. She was beyond tired of tears. Fed up with the salty taste they left in her mouth. _Then again, _she mused,_ it is the only salt I've tasted since coming to-_

Nuvo halted her tears and grabbed for her key, frantic to unbind herself and get to work. It was so simple; she couldn't believe it had taken over a year for her to think it up. She knew _exactly_ how she was getting herself, her friend, AND his family out of Impel Down.

…

An hour later, Nuvo pushed open the door and slipped into Doffy's cell. She'd woken him, and he watched through half lidded eyes as she walked over to him, took a deep breath, and promptly lowered herself over his hips, straddling him. She leaned forward, placing her hands on either side of his head, stretching herself over his large torso. He kept his face neutral and waited with baited breath.

"I'm leaving this place tonight."

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, using one hand to pull all of her hair to one side of her head, so it cascaded over her right shoulder and brushed against his. Doffy found himself resenting his shirt for preventing the sensation of those locks grazing his skin.

"I think you are I are both beyond fragile emotions like love, but you must believe me when I tell you that you are the closest thing I have to a friend or family. I may have been able to handle this place without you, but it would have been leagues more miserable, and I'll be grateful forever that you were here to help me. It's this gratitude that most compels me to do what I'm about to do, and I need you to understand that I won't consider you in my debt for it, and I don't expect anything from you from this day forward. I couldn't begin to live with myself if I escaped this hell and left you in it, so I'm setting you and your family free, and after we get out of here, you don't owe me a thing. You don't ever have to see my face again, if you don't want too."

He still hadn't said a word, and remained silent still as she unlocked his chains and slid them from his body, then returned to sitting on his crotch. She bent down and sang the words against his mouth.

"_As the wind on the sea does blow_

_Let the bands be cut, let him go." _

They both heard the sea prism stone cuffs clink against the stone floor.

"Thank you." she breathed, and locked her lips with his fully. He kissed her back, hard, and they both lost themselves inside it. Only a moment later, Nuvo found herself flying across the room, slamming into the wall with a thud, her arms pinned above her head by some invisible binding. _His devil fruit power..._

"Well, that is an _interesting_ parlor trick." she gasped, unsure of whether he was going to kiss her or kill her as he stood and stretched his newly free wrists and ankles.

"I'm afraid you've misinterpreted me," he said lowly. "I'm a pirate, but my interest in gold is minimal these days. I'm a seeker of more valuable treasures, and when I find one, I'm not keen on letting it go."

A slight twitch of his fingers and her clothes were on the floor, sliced by invisible blades. She reacted to the sudden cool air on her skin, but she didn't flinch at the unexpected nudity. She wanted him to look at her. And look he did. His eyes drank her in as he glided toward her. When he reached the wall where she was bound, he sank to his knees, tossing her legs over either of his shoulders and sliding his nose along her inner thigh.

"And you are _treasure_, Nuvovniya."

He crept toward her cunt with his lips. He traced her inner labia with his tongue and then lapped at her clit, sending a jolt of pleasure up her spine. He gripped her thighs and continued to lick her, perfect pressure combined with alternating speed, teasing her toward her orgasm. She wanted nothing more than to break free of the wall and fist his blonde hair, but he would not relent, and she could do nothing but arch her back and groan as he made her unravel with his mouth. Twice.

He stood up and removed his own clothing, except the sunglasses, and with his prison garb out of the way, Nuvo felt as though she were seeing him for the first time. They weren't criminals anymore, only people. Only themselves.

"You have nowhere to go once you leave these walls. No friends, no family. So, be a part of mine." he purred. "Be _mine_, songbird."

He hooked his hands under her knees and pulled her legs apart, spreading her open. He was fully erect, and his cock matched his magnitude in overall size. He pushed his hips toward hers, nudging her folds and erasing her ability to think. He nuzzled her neck, biting lightly as he rocked his hips forward and buried his cock inside her to the hilt, holding her against the wall as he finally removed the restraints on her wrists.

Her hands looped under his arms and she sank her fingernails into his back, drawing blood as he thrust in and out of her soaked cunt. The grit of the stone wall was scratching her back bloody, but she didn't give a damn. He quickened the pace, biting her neck harder. She tightened her legs around his waist, giving him deeper access and making him moan into the bite.

Using her momentary advantage, Nuvo leaned forward as hard as she could, forcing them off of the wall and onto the floor. Doffy's back hit the ground harshly, but the slight pain was quickly forgotten as Nuvo dug her palms into his shoulders and began to ride him. She moved her hips back and forth, impaling herself on his cock over and over. He put one hand on her hip and the other squeezed her breast, his thumb sliding pleasantly over her nipple.

Needing release, Doffy sat up, slipping his throbbing cock out and shoving Nuvo's body to the ground. He wasted no time in raising her hips and sliding back inside, ramming her at a furious pace. Her breasts bounced as his thrusts became erratic, and she felt her cunt clench at him as she came a third time, screaming her euphoria as he lost control and just managed to remove himself before spouting all over her stomach.

He rolled to her side and they lay panting together. After her sweat had cooled and she'd caught her breath, Nuvo looked at him intently.

"I have a plan. I've finished the prep work already, so listen carefully, because once I initiate the next step, we won't have much time."


	5. Chapter 5

Doffy crossed the threshold into Nuvo's cell for the first time, and it would have been identical to his if not for her recent addition of four doors into the wall. Narrow and made of stone, they stood impressively in the dimness, making the escape plan more real in his mind. This was very likely to work, as long as they got out before anyone came to check on them.

"Alright, just so we're clear, let's go over it once more. I'm taking the first passage to the Crimson Hell, where I'll find Sugar, Giolla, and Machvise. Once I disable the security system, I'll look for Sugar, who I can recognize because she's probably the only prisoner who looks like a child. She'll help me find the others if they aren't together. I'll escort them back here. You?" Nuvo pointed at him.

"I'm taking the third door to the Starvation Hell to get Trebol, Pica, Diamante, and Senor Pink." he recited. They'd gone over it seven times already, but there was little margin for error.

"Right. Whoever gets back here first will then go through the second door to the Wild Beast Hell to retrieve Dellinger and Gladius. Once everyone is reunited down here, we go through the fourth door, which leads to a large submarine that we will use to escape. I've covered the sub with sea prism stone, so the sea kings shouldn't be a problem. However, you and your family may feel a little weak inside it with the stone in place and the fact we'll be traveling underwater for a while. I'm not sure, but be prepared."

He nodded, impressed yet again with the extent of Nuvo's gift. She had literally created entire stone passages underwater, changing the architecture of the prison from the outside, and had also managed to construct a hidden submarine large enough for eleven people. He knew with certainty then that there was no way he'd have ever had a chance of escaping without her help, and although she had said earlier that night that he didn't owe her a thing, he found himself wanting to give her everything she desired, and was thankful that one of those things was himself, at least for the moment.

"Let's get into position. After you go down the passage, remember to wait behind the door until the security is down. Then start searching. Understood?"

He nodded again as she straightened the new prison uniform that she'd summoned for herself. Her old one was in pieces back in Doffy's cell, and she still wanted to blend in incase she was spotted. The two approached their respective doors.

"How will we know for sure that the security is down?" Doffy asked. Nuvo flashed him a positively wicked smile, and he felt his cock stir.

"Oh, you'll know."

…

Once she reached the door leading directly into the Crimson Hell, she summoned a pair of steel shoes for herself. The weight would slow her down, but having her feet sliced open by the needle-sharp grass would make her slower. Her passage was longer than Doffy's, as the Crimson Hell was closer to the top of the prison than the starving one, so she could be sure he was waiting outside his own door by now. It was time.

"_Ocean outside, hear me when I sing. _

_I beseech you, lend me your salt._

_Let grains spill from every ceiling, _

_and rain down on this prison vault."_

In seconds, salt was pouring all over the inside of Impel Down. What mixes poorly with salt?

Snails.

Every den den mushi in the prison was going berserk. The cameras went down completely and the alarms began to go on and off randomly, sending guards stomping all over the place. Nuvo opened the door, which looked like regular wall from the outside, and starting searching for a child. She felt sorry for the poor snails, but they were stronger than regular snails and the salt wouldn't kill them, it would just burn a lot until someone cleaned them up.

It would take quite some time for every snail in the building to be treated; Nuvo only hoped it would be enough. She walked as fast as she could with the metal shoes on, glancing everywhere for Sugar. There were no cells on this level, only the blood-soaked forest. Her hair blended with the sharp leaves. She tucked it into the back of her shirt to keep it from snagging. She looked for at least twenty minutes and hadn't seen a single living person, much less the girl in question. The forest was huge. Where was she?

"SUGAAAAAAR?!" she called, desperate for a lead. "SUUUUUUUGAAAAAAAAAR?!"

She had nearly shouted herself hoarse when a flash of green hair flitted through the trees. A child, covered in cuts and bleeding multiple places, bounded up to her, seemingly unaffected by the grass stabbing her feet. Perhaps she was just used to it by now.

"Who are you? Why are looking for me?" the child asked.

Nuvo knelt down to her. "I'm a friend of Doffy's. I'm here to help you. Do you know where Giolla and Machvise are?" she asked in a soft tone. The little girl sighed.

"I know I look ten, but I'm twenty-two. So don't talk to me like I'm a fucking toddler, ok?"

Nuvo snapped back to her full height, embarrassed. "Of course. I'm sorry."

Sugar rolled her eyes. "It happens. C'mon, I'll take you to Giolla. Machvise isn't here though. He jumped."

"Jumped? What do you mean?"

"He jumped into the Wild Beast Hell. Below us."

"You can do that?"

She nodded. "Most don't risk it though. It could be worse than here." Sugar noticed the steel protecting Nuvo's feet. "Where'd you get those?"

"Hold on one second." Nuvo cleared her throat and pointed at her shoes.

"_I need another pair of those_

_as to protect my new friend's toes!"_

Sugar's eyes lit up as Nuvo handed over the new shoes. She put them on one at a time and marveled at her ability to walk comfortably. So the grass did affect her, she just hid it well. _She's tough… _

"Thanks lady! C'mon!"

She grabbed Nuvo's hand and dragged her to a cave. Several prisoners had bunkered in here, away from the harsh environment. Sugar stopped in front of an older woman, bespectacled. "Giolla," Sugar whispered, we have to go with this lady now. She's helping us. Look!" Sugar pointed to her feet, showing off the new kicks. "I'll give you some too!" Nuvo said. She muttered a tune, and suddenly Giolla and every other prisoner in the cave had covered feet. Giolla was shocked. Nuvo grabbed her wrinkled hands.

"There isn't time to explain, we have to go!"

This time she did the dragging, and all three of them were out of the cave before most of the prisoners realized where the shoes had come from. Nuvo was sure that they'd be taken away later, but at least those people could enjoy some time with them. Eventually they were back at the door. She opened it and turned back to the flabbergasted ladies.

"Follow this passage all the way down and wait there. Someone will come soon, if not me, then Doffy and some other members of your crew. I have to go find Machvise, Gladius, and Dellinger in the Wild Beast Hell. Which way is the jumping point?"

Giolla pointed left. Nuvo thanked her, then shoved her through the doorway. "Go quickly!"

Giolla and Sugar started down the dark hallway and Nuvo shut the door behind them. Then she took off left, walking only a few moments before seeing the huge hole in the floor leading to the Wild Beast Hell. It was a far leap, so she summoned a sheet to use as a parachute to glide down with. As she floated, she looked around for any enemies, but saw none. The alarms were still going off all over the place. _Maybe they're all busy _she thought hopefully as she landed, kicking off her steel shoes and tossing them aside with the sheet.

This level had cells, so she started running from cell to cell, asking for any of the Donquixote men she was looking for. As she searched, she noted that every surveillance snail she passed was still writhing, meaning the prison staff definitely hadn't made it far in the process of getting them back up. _Good_.

Finally, she got a response from someone after rattling off the names.

"Dellinger's in here. You want him, you gotta unlock all of us." The prisoner rasped.

"Of course." Another quick song and there was a set of keys in her hand. She unlocked the cell door and the prisoners flooded into the hall.

"Dellinger?!" she called, but none of the prisoners answered. The raspy prisoner tapped her shoulder and gestured inside the cell.

"He's in the corner. He's skittish."

Then he was running off with the rest of them, trying to find a way out of this shithole.

Nuvo stepped inside the cell. In the corner there was a very thin boy with two white horns coming out of his head; he couldn't have been more than a teenager. He was in the fetal position with his head down and his arms wrapped around his knees. She tried to quiet her steps as she got closer, not wanting to frighten him.

"Are you Dellinger?"

He didn't move. Nuvo took a risk and placed a hand on his right arm. He flinched, but didn't fight.

"Dellinger, my name is Nuvo. I'm a friend."

He glanced up at her, then slowly lifted his entire head to look at her. He had never seen a woman so beautiful. He wasn't sure if she was real. He lifted his left hand and touched her hair, pulling a strand of it free from the back of her shirt. _He's in pretty rough shape_, she thought. He was too young for this place, and it had done serious damage to his nerves.

"Are you an angel?" he croaked, his voice weak from disuse.

"No. I'm a friend. I need you to come with me."

He nodded slowly; his eyes were glazed. "I'll follow you anywhere, even heaven."

She smiled reassuringly at him and took his hand. He held hers as if it were made of glass. She pulled him to his feet.

"I need you to help me find Gladius and Machvise, okay?"

They searched together, Dellinger refusing to let go of her hand.

…

In the Starvation Hell, Doflamingo had found his men relatively quickly. Able to use his power again, he swung from place to place, covering a lot of ground in a small frame of time. Trebol and the others had been together, but the time they'd spent here had been cruel, and they were all surreally thin. Doffy had been forced to use his parasite thread to get them to stand. With the help, they were able to walk, but it was at a miserably slow pace, and he feared forcing them to walk faster would injure them further.

After nearly an hour they were back at the door Nuvo had created. He hurried them inside and slammed it behind them, allowing them a moment to rest since they were in safer territory now.

"Doffy…" Diamante forced the word from his mouth, straining with the effort. "How…"

"Not now. There's not time and you're very weak. Save your strength. We've more to do."

They descended the stairs and after what felt like an eternity, they were back at Nuvo's cell. He opened the door and immediately felt the wind knocked out of him as a small bundle launched itself into his chest. Small arms wrapped around his waist and his shirt grew moist from the tears falling down Sugar's face.

"D-D-Dooooooffy!" she wailed. "I've m-m-m-missed you so muuuuuuch!"

"I missed you too," he gasped "but I need to breathe."

She released him and ran back to Giolla's side. She looked older and she was as covered in wounds as Sugar was, but she was otherwise alright. Her face seemed grim as she looked over Trebol, Pica, Diamante, and Senor Pink.

"Where's Nuvovniya?"

"Who?" asked Sugar. "Ohhhhh you mean the redhead. She says she's your friend, but the massive bruise on her neck says otherwise."

Doffy glowered.

"She's in the Wild Beast Hell looking for the others." Giolla said. "She jumped down from our floor."

"I didn't know such a thing was possible." Doffy said, already bound for the second door. "I'm going to help her. All of you stay here. Protect each other."

"Yes, young master."

Doffy grinned. It felt _damn_ good to hear that again.

…

He rushed through the second passageway and burst out onto the floor. The alarms were still going haywire. The Wild Beast Hell had many cells down many hallways, and without access to his devil fruit power he probably never would've found them. But thanks to his songbird, he did have access, and he found the group in only ten minutes. The good news was that Nuvo had found Dellinger, Gladius, and Machvise. The bad news was that four manticores had also found them.

The giant lions with human heads were circling the foursome, chanting about bread and panties. In her haste to get back to the door, Nuvo hadn't taken time to remove the sea prism stone cuffs from the men, so she was pretty much on her own. One of the manticores struck at her and she managed to dodge it. Doffy landed in front of the offending manticore and knocked it through the adjacent wall. Nuvo had half a second to smile her thanks when the other lion creatures moved to attack. Doffy managed to fend off another while Nuvo rushed to uncuff Gladius. With his explosive powers unleashed, he quickly did away with a third manticore.

Nuvo felt a sudden dread and whipped around to see the last manticore only a few feet away from Dellinger. His eyes were still glazed over. He didn't react to the creature's growls; he just stood there, numb and in shock. There wasn't enough time for anyone to get to him. The manticore seemed to know that too, and he pounced. Nuvo reached forward and screamed, but what came out wasn't a scream at all. It was like singing with no words, vocalizing, but it had an unnatural echo, like a piano note played underwater. It was an ethereal voice, and Nuvo had never heard anything like it, especially from her own mouth. From nowhere, an enormous gust of freezing wind rose from beneath her feet and flung itself along the path of her arm and hit with the manticore, flinging it through one wall, and then another. The speed of the wind was incredible. The manticore had been seconds away from chomping on Dellinger's head.

She'd never made something happen without words before; she had no clue how she'd done it. She stared down at her hands in wonder, turning them over as if there would be some never before seen thing. She drew them to her neck and carefully touched her throat. The voice hadn't sounded like her own had ever sounded before, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was _truly_ her voice.

Doffy's hand on her shoulder yanked her from her thoughts. He looked surprised too.

"We should go."

They found the door without further incident and went down the passageway to get back to Nuvo's cell. Once there, Nuvo filled everyone in on the plan and they entered the fourth door. Like the others, this passage was narrow, and they had to walk in pairs to fit. Dellinger had glued himself to Nuvo again, and they took the lead, followed by Sugar and Giolla, then Trebol and Pica, then Diamante and Senor Pink, then Gladius and Machvise, then Doflamingo, bringing up the rear on his own.

He looked at all their heads from the back, his crew, his family, and he had never felt more grateful for anything. In his own way he loved these people, and having them all together again felt like old times. Baby 5 and Buffalo had disappeared off somewhere before they were all arrested, but everyone else was here. He only wished Lao G were here to see it. Vergo, too. Monet.

He had not allowed himself to think of Monet in a very long time. He'd been her first lover and she had loved him wholly. He hadn't reciprocated. He couldn't. It wasn't his way. But she loved him never the less. That love had made her fiercely loyal, and she'd been more than happy to go to Punk Hazard when he asked, even if it meant separating herself from him. She went, he stayed, and then later he sat in his office, her snowflakes falling all around him, and listened to her die. It was another one of those deep shames he carried.

He shook off the lingering ache, unwilling to let it spoil the events unfolding before him. He was getting out of prison, his family was coming with him, and it was all thanks to the enigmatic young woman leading their procession. _She's a part of the Donquixote family now_ he thought, then remembered that she hadn't actually agreed to his proposition yet, but it didn't discourage him. At the time he'd asked, she had been rather distracted.

Nuvo found herself thinking of his words from earlier as well. He'd invited her into his family, but had he only said such a thing in the heat of the moment? And if he was serious, what role was she to play? She wanted to talk to him, but she knew it would be a while yet. His family probably had a million questions and stories to tell. How funny, to want to be alone with him when that's how they'd been for so long and all they'd set out to achieve tonight was basically the opposite. How funny indeed that despite the happy occasion, that thought almost made her sad.

At the top of a long staircase, they reached the end of the passage; another door. This one was horizontal, like an attic door. It opened in the middle of the sea, but within in the calm belt, so the water was still. The submarine was waiting for them; it was tied down from inside the passageway, so all they had to do was step out of the doorway and into the hatch; no water contact necessary. They were on the east side of Impel Down, and the prison loomed to their left, threatening to swallow them all back up.

Nuvo urged Dellinger into the hatch. He looked up at her from halfway in.

"You'll come too?" he asked, and as much as she wanted to be annoyed, it wasn't his fault he was traumatized.

"Of course, but you have to go so I can help the others inside."

He nodded and went down all the way. Giolla and Sugar popped out next, and Nuvo stood watch as they stepped out of one hole and into another. She was the only one of the bunch who could swim if anyone tripped and fell, since Dellinger was out of commission. Fortunately, the whole lot made it over without issue. Nuvo was watching Gladius's spiky head disappear into the sub when Doffy stepped out of the passageway. He stared at her, standing on the ocean in her striped clothes, ringlets framing her face and glowing red in the moonlight. She really did have a massive bruise on her neck. She was avoiding his gaze, looking instead at Impel Down.

"It's odd seeing it from the outside again." she explained.

"Yes, it is." he agreed. "You almost look like you're going to miss it."

"There are certain things I'll miss."

"Such as?"

"I'll miss having no other plans for my day except speaking with you."

He stepped toward her, the night sky reflecting in his sunglasses, which somehow suited him even at night. An awareness presented itself between the two, and they understood that things would never be quite the same. There were other people and other places in their lives again, which was good, but there was no way of telling how having more options would affect their future. They immersed themselves into attempting to memorize each other, unwilling to forget the slightest detail of the person who'd been their salvation for over a year.

"Excuse me, did you two forget that we're literally in the middle of a prison break or?..."

Sugar interrupted, breaking the spell and sending them both scampering inside.

"We need to get away from the Tarai current or we'll just head straight for Marine headquarters, so north is our best bet, at least to start. Can any of you navigate?" Nuvo questioned the crew.

"I was our ship's navigator when we were still on the sea." piped Machvise.

"We'll count on you to do that later then. You're still too weak to steer, but I can just set the sub to go north on its own for a while. Just until you're feeling up to driving and we have a specific destination in mind. We can discuss it later; for now, I'm sure we all agree on anywhere but here."

With some tinkering, the autopilot took the controls over and, in an unclimactic fashion compared to the rest of the night's events, the group of fugitives made their way out of the calm belt and into the open ocean.

…

Just before dawn, the staff of Impel Down had finally managed to finish repairing the damage. Escapees from the Wild Beast Hell who'd somehow gotten out of their cells were returned, and the steel shoes that had appeared from nowhere in the Crimson Hell had been confiscated. A count was currently underway, which Hannyabal was in charge of. Everything seemed in order; a few numbers were off, but he was sure it was simply a miscount. The prison held several criminals after all, so mistakes in the initial count were almost to be expected.

Yes, he was quite calm until he reached the Infinite Hell, which he'd saved for last because who the hell wants to go down there, right? But alas, duty called, so down he went. Everything was perfectly normal until he reached the empty solitary cells. He checked the mysterious doors, followed every passageway, eventually reaching the middle of the sea through the fourth door. And as he stood there in the middle of the calm belt, staring at the ropes connected to nothing, he was not calm at all. He was terrified.

Not because it was obvious that a successful escape had occured. Not because the escape had consisted of two of the most high-profile inmates in the history of the prison. Not even because he realized that the count from before was probably correct after all, and multiple inmates from several different floors had escaped as well. No. Hannyabal was terrified because he was the unlucky sonofabitch who was going to have to tell _Magellan_, who's shift started in less than an hour.


	6. Chapter 6

The submarine's autopilot was simple; the underwater ship would propel itself forward, steer away from obstacles, and that's it. For the time being, the newly reformed Donquixote pirates were simply drifting deep beneath the surface, avoiding any interaction until everyone was healthy enough to make the next move, which was still an unknown. Most of them hadn't expected to ever leave Impel Down, so the new freedom was both exhilarating and daunting. What now?

After necessary introductions, the first order of business was removing the sea prism stone shackles from anyone still stuck in them, and the second was food. With everyone settled around a large table, Nuvo procured a feast with her gift of song, eliciting gasps from a majority of the table.

"I didn't know you could do food too! Can you make grapes?!" Sugar begged, and a moment later she was happily digging her fingers into an overflowing bowl the size of her own head.

"Those of you who haven't eaten much lately should be careful." Giolla warned. "Stuffing your face could overload your body and make you ill."

Senor Pink, Diamante, Trebol, and Pica restrained themselves, but relished every bite just as much as the rest of them. It was delicious, and the crew was reminded of the grandiose dinners they used to share every evening in Dressrosa. The reality of their success became clear, and despite their exhaustion, everyone was in a jovial mood. Even Dellinger seemed to be putting himself together slowly, but he still blatantly refused to be more than a few feet from Nuvo, a detail that Doflamingo did _not_ miss.

After eating as much as was reasonable and then some, Gladius and Machvise cleared the table, dropping off the dirty dishes in the kitchen area to be dealt with later. By the time they returned, Nuvo had conjured up a bottle of sake and was pouring everyone a cup.

"I know everyone is worn out. There's enough rooms set up down the hall for everyone to have their own. They're small and simple, except for yours, of course," Nuvo gestured to Doffy. "As Captain, you have a full Captain's quarters. Otherwise the rooms are a little tight, but at least you get a space to yourself. If you want to bathe before getting some rest, there are showers just past the bedrooms. There should be some nightclothes in the closets by bath area as well. It may take some digging to find something that fits; I didn't know anyone's proper sizes, so."

"That's a fascinating ability you have, Nuvo. Doors, keys, food, clothing. Is there anything you can't bring forth?" Diamante asked.

"Yes, I can only summon real, physical, objects. No people, nothing imaginary. And I can't change circumstances. For example, I couldn't have sung a song about all of us never being arrested in the first place and made it reality."

Diamante nodded his head. "I've never seen nor heard of anyone possessing that sort of power. Very interesting. Could everyone do such acts where you come from?"

"Yes! Well, not exactly like me, no. Before it's destruction, everyone, erm, _almost_ everyone from my kingdom had a singing voice laced with a gift of some type, but no two people had the same one and, at the risk of sounding egotistical, I can't remember anyone having a gift as versatile as my own."

"I see. Are you able to remember any of your kingdom's history? Was there any record of anyone who lived there who'd had an ability like yours in the past?"

"Ugh, Diamante, she just sprung you and the rest of us from jail, I'm sure she's not in the mood to be interrogated!" Sugar interjected, rising from the table and grabbing Nuvo's left hand. "C'mon, let's go take a bath and go to bed! Ohhhhh a _real_ bed. I don't want to wait another second, but I haven't had a real bath in ages either."

Nuvo was also looking forward to a relaxing bathing experience and was happy to tag along, but as she stood, Dellinger grabbed her right hand, preventing her exit. She sighed.

"Let me take care of him first," Nuvo told Sugar. "Then I'll meet you there."

After they left, the group slowly started to disperse. Some went toward the showers, others skipped the process and settled for heading straight for bed. Soon only Doflamingo, Diamante, and Trebol were left sipping their drinks.

"Where on earth did you find her?" Diamante inquired.

Diamante had always been an intelligent man, so it didn't surprise Doffy that he'd recognized the rarity and importance of someone like Nuvo quickly, but he found himself groaning internally anyway. He wasn't in the mood to be interrogated either, but it was sure that Diamante wouldn't be the only one asking him questions about her in the near future, so he may as well be prepared.

"She was in the Infinite Hell with me. Other than the sources I maintained for updates on the world outside the prison and you all today, she's the only person I've spoken with for over a year. It's a strange friendship, but it kept us both sane."

"A strange friendship, indeed." Trebol noted. "She's young, Doffy."

Doffy wouldn't have accepted a veiled criticism like that from anyone but Trebol.

"I'm well aware of that, but you needn't worry. She isn't a child."

"No, she is not, but she's exceptionally powerful, and makes a fine ally, and more than likely would make a fine addition to this crew. I understand that decision rests with you alone, but I'm sure you agree that she's not an acquisition that we want to misplace." Diamante finished his drink, then continued. "My only concern is that if that strange friendship of yours starts to falter, we risk making an enemy of that woman, and she is not someone I want for an enemy. I think she may be considerably more powerful than any of us realize, maybe more than she realizes herself. My only advice is that you tread carefully."

With that, Diamante laboriously rose from the table, and headed down the hall.

"He's right, but I think that her youth is more an advantage than a risk." Trebol grinned, his snot beginning to drip just like in the good ol' days. "With proper training and a shove in the right direction, she could be the most useful member that the Donquixote pirates have taken on in years. I fully enforce the idea of keeping her inclined to stay, through _whatever_ means necessary."

The innuendo in his voice was thick, and as Trebol trailed after the others down the hall, Doffy poured himself another drink and let his mind tumble the words of his crewmates. He wanted her to stay with his family, that much was certain, but he wanted her to desire to stay on board, and in his bed, preferably. It was a lot to consider, and he knew they needed to seriously discuss the logistics of her joining the crew in a setting that didn't involve him being buried between her thighs.

This would prove difficult, considering the thought alone made him wonder where she'd be sleeping tonight.

…

Meanwhile, Nuvovniya had escorted Dellinger to an unoccupied room. She had summoned some pajamas for him and had turned around while he changed. Tucking in a child so old made her feel patronizing, but Dellinger didn't seem to mind. He'd regained color in his cheeks since the feast and looked a little less dazed, but there was still a lot of healing for him to do. Nuvo felt responsible for him, and in her stubborn refusal to deal with names so long, she had taken to calling him Deli.

"Deli, I'm going to leave you here now and go down the hall."

She saw the protest in his eyes, and he started to get out of bed, but she gently pushed him back down.

"I'll still be on the exact same sub as you, along with the rest of your family. We aren't in Impel Down anymore; there's no locks on these doors except the ones on the inside, which you control."

"I'm afraid I'll go to sleep and wake up, and this will all have been a dream. I still don't know if you're real or not."

Nuvo smiled patiently. "Well, I am real, and you're going to wake up tomorrow on this same ship. For now, why don't we pretend that Impel Down was just a dream, and when you wake up tomorrow, it'll officially be over, and you can start your first full day of freedom. The faster you let yourself sleep, the faster it'll come."

Deli was not entirely convinced, but he trusted the redhead, even if she maybe wasn't real, and he was very sleepy. After all that time in the prison, the small bed was luxurious, and the comfort was quickly lulling him to sleep. Nuvo said goodnight to him and quietly left the room, closing the door softly behind her, then sped to the showers.

…

She found Sugar standing completely still with her head tilted up and her arms extended to her sides, letting the hot water hit her face and gush over her small form. She looked like a little kid in the rain. At the sound of Nuvo's feet slapping wetly against the tile floor, she pulled her head forward and grinned at her.

"About time!"

"I'm sorry, I got held up."

"It's okay, I don't plan on leaving this room for a looooong time. I forgot how amazing this feels! No one is ever washing me with a hose again."

It did feel wonderful to stand in the steamy room and let the water cascade over her body. She'd designed the showers pretty simply. They consisted of two large separate rooms covered in tile, with several shower heads coming out of the walls. The sub pulled in water from the sea, sending it through multiple filters and a heating component, then drained from the showers back into the sea again. Nuvo had placed a tile shelf in each room as well, loading them both with soaps, shampoos, conditioners, shaving creams, razors, scrubs, sponges, loofahs, and anything else she could think of that someone taking a bath might wish for.

Sugar and Nuvo had completed all their bathing necessities, but neither expressed any urge to leave the room. The sound of the water hitting the floor was tranquil and after using several soaps it smelled like a garden. It was a slippery paradise.

"I only wish there was a tub." Sugar said wistfully, and after only a moment Nuvo had made a large one in the back-left corner. She and Sugar jumped in and ran hot water into the tub, filling it with enough bubble bath to spill over to the floor. Nuvo also conjured a bottle of sweet wine. Giggling into their glasses and surrounded by the froth, they both looked like little kids.

"So, what's it like fucking Doffy?" Sugar asked casually, resulting in Nuvo nearly shooting wine from her nose.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I have to sate myself on juicy details from other people! I'm a twenty-two-year-old who looks ten; people aren't exactly interested in nailing me, and the ones who are interested are GROSS."

"That's fair. Honestly, it's only happened once, and it certainly could've been a heat of the moment thing. We were in solitary, and when you only have access to one other person for that long, well…"

"I understand, but Doffy doesn't really strike me as a one-time guy. When he was still King of Dressrosa, women were literally flinging themselves at him constantly, but he didn't go for them very often. I mean, half the reason they were hot for him was probably because they hoped he'd marry them and they'd get to be royalty, but it helps that Doffy is sexy. I know it's weird to say that because he's kind of like my dad, but I'm recognizing the facts here."

"How long have you been with him? With the crew, I mean?"

"He saved me and my sister from a terrible environment when I was nine. Like, actually chronologically nine years old."

"Where's your sister now?"

Seeing Sugar's fallen face, Nuvo immediately felt that she had said something she shouldn't have. She opened her mouth to apologize for being invasive or change the subject, but Sugar raised her hand.

"It's ok," Sugar said. "Monet died. A little while before the straw hat pirates came to Dressrosa and we got arrested. She was on an assignment for Doffy and her mission failed."

"I'm very sorry."

"It's alright. That's the risk you take when you become a pirate. And pirate or not, she would have done anything for Doffy. We all would, but her especially. She really loved him. They were fucking for a while, but I don't think it was romantic, exactly. Maybe a little. But Doffy isn't the romantic kind. I don't think you are either, though, no offense."

"None taken, I'm really not. I never have been. I was a Princess before prison and I had suitors, and I slept with a few men. A few women, too." She gave Sugar a saucy wink, and the green haired girl gigged. "But I've never been impressed by romance. I've heard it described a million times and I've never felt that way about anyone, even him."

"How do you feel about him?"

"Like I enjoy his company. Like I don't have anywhere else to be. Like he's a damn good fuck."

Sugar giggled again, and Nuvo found herself doing the same. It was nice to have simple feminine time like this. She had friends back in Harmelude, some since childhood, but she wasn't particularly close to any of them, and royal etiquette definitely wouldn't have allowed her to bathe with anyone. She was never even put in the same tub as her brother when they were children.

She squashed down the thought of Scabor almost as soon as it came. She and Sugar continued to gossip until they were equally pruned, then decided to get dried off and go to bed. They found some sleeping clothes and drowsily slunk toward the bedrooms. Taking the last two empty rooms, they whispered their goodnights.

…

Nuvo had only just gotten comfortable in her small bed when someone knocked on her door. _Deli…go back to bed…_she thought, and flung the bedcovers off herself to answer. She opened the door to see not the anxious teen, but Doflamingo, dressed in a set of midnight blue silk pajamas and trademark lenses. He'd also bathed, and Nuvo couldn't stop herself from breathing in the clean scent he emitted. He smirked at her and held up the remainder of the booze from the feast.

"I think that you and I have spent enough time in isolated conditions, don't you?"

…

A few minutes later they were both in the Captain's quarters, finishing off the alcohol. She was quite proud of this part of the vessel; there was a large four poster bed with velvet curtains, a trunk with various clothing items inside, a desk with a logbook, and a table with four chairs beneath a large window through which you could see the ocean and all the life it contained. The two were seated there now, watching as a large octopus drifted lazily past them.

"You spared no expense for me. I thank you." he drawled. It was near dawn, and she could hear the exhaustion in his voice, as well as in her own when she replied.

"I wanted you to be impressed."

"You never cease to impress me."

A silence followed. There was so much to say and so few words to say it with. How do you thank someone for helping you stay human in a beastly place? Or for helping you escape that place with the loyal friends who went into it with you? What do you say to such a person to convince them to stay, not because you need them as an accomplice, but purely because you want them by your side? Doffy didn't know, but luckily for him he didn't have to figure it out. Nuvo chugged the last of her drink and slammed the glass on the table, took a breath, and looked sharply at him.

"If the invitation still stands, I want to join the crew."

She could have followed the declaration with an explanation of why she'd made this choice and given a long sermon on how much she wanted a position in the family, but there was no need. He knew very well that she was useful and could be loyal to him, but he'd be loyal to her too, no doubt. They'd shared too much not to be.

He didn't reply; he simply stood and extended his arm, offering a hand to seal the deal. She got to her feet and grasped his hand hard, moving their conjoined arms up once, then down, then level again. It felt official and tinged with the chill of professionalism, but it was a binding contract to serve under a pirate Captain, so the formality was not out of place.

Neither released hold of the other. Doffy instead pulled her forward, crushing her into his chest, and wrapped his other arm around her smaller form. She used her free arm to return the embrace, upon which Doffy released her other hand and moved to lift her up, carrying her to the elegant bed. It was surely near dawn, and the night had been unbelievably long. They were practically dozing before they collapsed into the silk sheets.

"Now tomorrow holds only one problem to solve." He mumbled, eyes barely open behind his sunglasses.

"Hmmm?" Nuvo replied, eyes not open at all.

"Where in the world are we going to go?"

…

"WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE THEY GOING TO GO?!" Akainu fumed, his hands steaming from the effort to keep himself calm. It was the ten in the morning, and he had just received word about the eleven people who'd successfully escaped the previous evening, so he had called a strategy meeting with the other admirals, Fujitora and Ryokugyu. Ryokugyu was late as usual, but Sengoku had heard the news and was sitting in, so he and Fujitora sat quietly while Akainu stomped to and fro in his office at Marine Headquarters.

"They can't hide for long, and Doflamingo isn't the type to try and hide anyway. It's only a matter of time before they show up somewhere." Sengoku mused.

"I agree. So, let's let the world know they're out. We'll run the story in today's paper –"

"It's already gone out," Fujitora interrupted Akainu, "It should also be considered that letting the public know about this could cause panic."

Akainu growled. "Then let's send out a second paper today. It can be an emergency announcement, exclusively covering the escape story and reminding everyone how dangerous these people are. Let them panic; it'll encourage anyone who sees anything unusual to report it. We'll make a point to say that we're cracking down on security at Impel Down, to soften the worry."

"It's not a bad idea to put more resources into security there. It's supposed to be the toughest prison in the world, and this isn't the first escape." Sengoku added.

"That's already in motion." Akainu assured him. He had given Magellan a raging earful over the phone. Honestly, the fact that two prisoners in solitary confinement had found a way to communicate with each other was a massive security oversight, and the fact that they'd somehow coordinated an escape was even worse. It was clear to Akainu that Doflamingo must be the mastermind behind it, since the other escapees were all members of the Donquixote Pirates before arrest. All except one.

"What do we know about the girl?" he pondered aloud.

"Only as much as any citizen who read the papers after she was arrested. Princess, sole survivor and lead suspect in her kingdom's demise, sent to the Infinite Hell on little more than the whim of some Celestial Dragons, assumed to have no supernatural ability."

"And lovely to look at, too." Ryokugyu had finally arrived, making his comment from the doorway. Akainu glared at him.

"Well, obviously she has some sort of ability. There were passages in the Infinite Hell leading to multiple floors and the exterior which hadn't existed before. No one in the Donquixote family has a power like that. And the salt that disturbed the den den mushi came from seemingly nowhere, so I suspect her hand in that too."

"What type of vessel did they escape in?" asked Sengoku.

"Unknown. There was evidence of something tied to the end of the exterior passage, but there's no way to tell exactly what it was. Ship, submarine, sailboat…could have been anything, really. Something big enough for all those people and some supplies, I imagine." Akainu answered.

"So we're to assume that this young woman somehow single-handedly destroyed an entire island, then proceeded to change the physical structure of Impel Down, make it rain salt indoors, gather up one of the most notorious pirate crews of all time, and escape with them in some sort of sea vessel that she produced from thin air, _in a single night?"_ Fujitora deadpanned.

Tense silence consumed the office. It sounded so ridiculous, even impossible, but none the less, it had happened. The high-ranking marine officers were forced to accept that Princess Nuvovniya was a much larger threat than previously considered, and was possibly equally as dangerous as the rest of the Donquixote pirates, of whom she may or may not now be a member. Bearing all this information and more, the second newspaper of the day was hurriedly printed and sent via bird to every nook and cranny of the world, including the ship called the Thousand Sunny.


	7. Chapter 7

Nami removed the paper from the News Coo gently, giving it a pat before shooing it off the deck of the _Sunny_. _I swear we already got a paper today _she thought curiously, unfolding the thin sheet that held only one article and several photographs, more than one of which was hideously familiar. She shouted for her crewmates, all of whom fought for the paper, nearly tearing it in their individual efforts to read the story.

"How could the marines lose track of such important prisoners?! Aren't they paid to prevent this?!" Usopp exclaimed, scratching his small beard.

"Who cares how they got out? We should be more worried about them tracking us down. We got them arrested in the first place, and that was after we destroyed the SMILE factory and kicked his feathery butt off the throne. He's probably still pretty pissed." Franky pointed out, and he had a good point. Chopper and Brook were both visibly panicking.

"I don't think he'll come after us anytime soon. They're in the spotlight right now. Look, there's even a reward being offered for any information that might aid in their recapture!" Usopp read.

"Reward?! How much?" Nami inquired, attempting to snatch the paper back from Usopp, who wouldn't acquiesce.

"Nami, we can't turn him in for the reward! Almost all of our bounties are higher than this anyway." Usopp reasoned. "Besides, tracking him down is next to impossible. He's a former black-market kingpin; I'm sure the guy knows how to disappear when he needs too!" Usopp held the paper high above his head to revoke Nami's greedy fingers, but that made it easy for Sanji to grab it from his position on the deck stairs.

"Who's this divine creature? I don't remember her from Dressrosa…" Sanji drooled over the mugshot, a slight nosebleed forming in his left nostril. Usopp, ever vigilant, wrangled the paper back from Sanji before he could damage it with his various bodily fluids.

"I'm curious about her too. I've never heard of her, but this article says that she's got some pretty intense powers!" He listed all the things that Princess Nuvovniya was suspected to have done, piquing Nico's interest.

"May I see the paper, Usopp?" she asked, extending an extra limb. He handed it over and she reviewed the details, eyes growing wider and more inquisitive.

"I don't care what she can do, we can kick her ass just as hard as we can kick Flamingo's again, if it becomes necessary." Zoro yawned, not bothering to look at the paper whose information had interrupted his nap. "Right, Luffy?"

The Captain had been oddly silent for the duration of the news. Wearing his most serious expression, he nodded his head.

"It's decided. We're going after Mingo."

It would be difficult to choose between Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Usopp if one had to decide who had made the loudest sound of protest in the moments following Luffy's order.

"WHY WOULD WE GO AFTER THEM?! THEY WANT TO KILL US!" screeched Chopper.

"YEAH! I'M TERRIFIED EVEN THOUGH I'M ALREADY DEAD!" Brook followed.

"We already discussed how hard it would be to find them! Where would we start?" Nami challenged.

"Did you forget how hard it was to beat him the first time? Now he's twice as angry and he's had all this time to think about it! Not to mention the complications that this new girl throws into the mix. Even if the details of her power aren't known, she's clearly capable of real damage! We shouldn't underestimate her!" Usopp declared. The four of them turned to the rest of the crew, waiting for backup.

"I think we can handle 'em." Zoro said predictably.

"Me too. Plus, I want to see that redhead in person." Sanji added, also predictably.

"I'm in!" Franky chuckled.

Everyone turned to Nico and Jinbe, who had been whispering furiously for the past few minutes, playing tug-of-war with the newspaper. Feeling the stares of their crewmates, they broke apart and Nico faced Luffy directly.

"Luffy, I need to talk to this woman," declared Nico, gesturing to Princess Nuvovniya. "I have a theory about her, but I need to see her in person to know for sure. It's very important."

"I agree. If Nico's theory is correct, then it's immeasurably important to speak with her and even more so to remove her from Doflamingo's company. Innocent people could be injured or killed if we don't take action. A lot of them." Jinbe said sternly.

Luffy nodded once more, then smiled. "That's six against four, guys!" He ran for the bow of the ship and shouted at the sky as Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook shared a collective groan.

"WE'RE COMING FOR YOU, MINGOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

…

Emperor Kaido read the second newspaper of the day with a scowl on his brow and a bottle to his lips.

"It's about damn time," he muttered, sloshing the liquid in the oversized bottle.

"Should we search for him, sir?" asked a shaking subordinate. Kaido's features twisted as though he were going to shout as the subordinate, but at the last opportunity he thought better of it, and his face morphed slowly back to the scowl that his crew had come to recognize as his neutral look.

"No. We'll wait. He's a useful man, and if he has any sense, he'll come to me."

…

Word spreads like wildfire, and it seemed everyone in the world had received the newspaper about the newly reformed Donquixote pirates except the pirates themselves. Leagues under the sea, they were not to be bothered with the world on land for the moment. Instead, they busied themselves over the next few weeks by healing, training, and working on a plan for the not so distant future when they would finally emerge from their underwater cocoon, which they had dubbed_ Jailbird_.

After unwilling confinement for more than a year, it was incredible how much good twenty days of quality food, clean bedsheets, and the power to unlock your own door could do. The crew had regained much of their old selves, including the strength of their devilfruit powers. Nuvo's theory that the sea prism stone on the outside of the sub would weaken their abilities had fortunately proven false, and now the crew were testing themselves, all except for Sugar.

"I don't want to deal with the hassle of everyone forgetting someone and then I bring them back and then everyone has to have a moment and blah blah blah. When we go up and I find some people I don't give a shit about, then I'll give it a shot."

For everyone else, training in the small gymnasium that Nuvo had added to the _Jailbird_ was a frequent pastime. After an incident that involved Machvise increasing his weight to the point that the sub was plummeting down to pressures that risked shattering the thick glass of the windows and drowning everyone aboard, he was forbidden from using that aspect of his power in the vessel. However, he was still able to use the gym to practice decreasing his weight and floating back down. Gladius had plenty of space to explode himself. Diamante could turn the entire floor into a wave, which Senor Pink enjoyed swimming about in. Using a small pool, Dellinger was practicing his swimming as well, adding greatly to his recovery. He was more himself every day. Giolla had artistically developed anything she could get her hands on; Nuvo had even allowed her to use her ability to modify her own appearance, temporarily making her hair a bright blue. Nuvo had also summoned some stone slabs for Pica to practice with, and found him charming, despite the high voice. The only person in the crew that Nuvo found entirely distasteful was Trebol.

With a few good meals in his system, Trebol was able to regenerate his slime, which Nuvo found disgusting, no matter how useful it may be. He was awfully unpleasant to look at, and even worse to talk to. Everything he said was nasally and lewd, and she could never ditch the feeling that he was leering at her when they were sharing the same space. She couldn't be sure, considering he never removed the dark glasses that he'd escaped prison with. As if she didn't have enough difficulty reading cues from consistently bespectacled men these days.

Other than the nights she spent with Doffy, Nuvo spent most of her time with Sugar and Deli. She was ecstatic to find that Sugar disliked Trebol as much as she did. The honeymoon phase that the escape had left everyone in had worn off, and their old rivalry was back in full steam.

"Oh, you honestly have no idea, Nuvo. He was my guardian and I complained to Doffy all the time. I told the slimeball to go die almost daily. He's just so…ugh." Sugar ranted. She and her two closest friends were enjoying a light lunch after a morning workout. "And his voice is the most annoying. It's like talking to someone with a sinus infection that _never_ goes away." She proceeded to hold her nose with her fingers and slump her shoulders, making herself appear overall droopy. "Hey, hey!" she mocked Trebol's tone, "Why doesn't anyone want to sleep with me? Hey, hey? It is because I look like influenza personified? Hey, hey, hey, hey!"

The impersonation was so spot on that Nuvo and Deli were both in gleeful tears from their laughter. "I don't see how you can stand to be in the same room as him," Sugar said to Nuvo. "He looks at you like he wants to swallow you up. Then again," she gave Deli a meaningful side eye, "who doesn't?"

"Sugar, is this your way of telling me that you've wanted to swallow me this whole time?" Nuvo countered. Sugar giggled and rolled her eyes, continuing with her lunch. Deli shot her a grateful look, blushed, then dug into his own food. Nuvo had asked Sugar a while ago to stop giving him so much grief about his affection for her, which Nuvo considered entirely innocent.

"But Nuvoooooo," Sugar had argued, "He's so obvious about it! I can't believe Doffy hasn't reacted at all!"

Contrary to Sugar's statement, Doffy had reacted a bit. They had been discussing Dellinger just the previous night.

"Particularly fond of you, isn't he?" Doffy had mumbled into her neck. He was slumped against the headboard with her in his lap, both of them still nude and sweating from the evening's previous activities.

"He credits me with his rescue. It's admiration, not adoration," she'd insisted, moving her head to give him further admission to her nape. He bit her lightly, laughing lowly at her sudden intake of air.

"I don't know if you're trying to fool me or yourself, but that boy gawks at you the way men do."

"Hypocrite."

He'd laughed again, sliding his fingers over her stomach and between her thighs, using the slickness already there to wet his fingers and draw gentle circles around her clit. Thusly all talk of Dellinger evaporated, and the two were tangled in the sheets of the four-poster yet again.

The memory alone drew a flush to her cheeks, and Sugar smiled mischievously at her across the table. Deli seemed blissfully unaware of the silent conversation as he finished his sandwich. The ladies finished their own lunch and Nuvo carried the dishes to the kitchen. She washed them slowly, enjoying the feeling of doing such commonplace work with her hands. Before the _Jailbird_, she'd never so much as rinsed a cup. Princessdom had not spoiled her, but it had prevented her from being educated in household labors such as this. One of her favorite things about being a pirate was being part of a team where she stood on equal footing with so many others.

Well, perhaps not entirely equal. Regularly fucking the Captain did put her at a certain advantage, and her powers were more intense than most of her crewmembers. On the other hand, her crewmembers had been weaponizing their talents and battling much longer than she had, and knew their abilities well. She'd used her gift of song since she was a baby, but the events at Impel Down had shown her that there were accessories to her power that even she wasn't previously aware of.

The echoing note that her throat had produced in that moment when Dellinger was almost impaled on the manticore's teeth had been looming in the back of her mind. And what of the magnanimous force that had come after? She had never performed such an act; it had been reminiscent of wind, and she had been able to summon winds since her early teen years, but never like _that_. She had screamed herself hoarse trying to repeat the action in the gym to no avail. Disheartened, she tried to remember exactly what she'd done to cause the attack, but it had happened very quickly and in a moment of sheer panic. She found herself wishing for the input of her old family, and wondered if her parents might have been able to help her determine precisely what had happened and how to possibly harness such power again.

But it was pointless to think over such things. For now, Nuvo could only hope that the ability would return if she desperately needed it again. It had felt so natural at the time, as though the winds had always belonged to her. She had felt an unexplainable chill in her body, like when swimming in a warm pool and suddenly encountering a cold spot. She'd had no parallel experience in her lifetime, and she ached to feel that power course through her once more.

Doffy had tried to assist her, considering he'd witnessed the event from an outside perspective, but other than verifying the position of her outstretched arm during the attack, he was of little help. It pained him to see her so frustrated, and he tried to distract her with kisses and strategy. He wanted to resume his SMILE production business, but to do so would require mountains of planning. Kaido would have to be contacted, but Doffy knew better than to come to him empty handed. He needed product first. And to do that, he had to find Caesar Clown.

He had no idea what had become of the gas man after he was arrested. His sources hadn't been able to tell him a thing, so he must've hidden himself well. Doffy wasn't surprised; Caesar was the sort of man to have several enemies, and without his protection, he was probably defenseless outside of his devil fruit power. But Caesar was also an extremely intelligent man, so Doffy didn't fear for him too much. News of their escape had likely reached the clown by now, and once they resurfaced and got ahold of a den den mushi, he would likely be able to contact him.

If he wasn't willing to work for Doffy again, the pirate would have to find a way to convince him to give up the SAD formula, which may prove difficult. That formula was a hell of a bargaining chip in the clown's pocket. But if Nuvo could get her hands on it and understand it, she'd be able to produce it. She'd tried to do so on a description alone, but the chemical was complicated and she was unable, so Caesar's participation was required.

"Your scientist, do you think he might be able to help me with my gift of song? The new part, I mean?" Nuvo asked Doffy as he poured them both another round. Once she'd finished the dishes, she'd brought the booze to his quarters for them to enjoy while they spent the afternoon planning. It was just the two of them this time; Diamante, Pica, and Trebol were also typically present for these meetings, but they were usually after dinner. Not that either present party was complaining. They could fill in the elite officers later if any new developments presented themselves.

"Possibly. The man is insane, but he's a scientific genius, and I'm sure he'll be interested in you. You're a rarity, so he'll probably want to examine you thoroughly." The thought made Doflamingo strangely uncomfortable.

"I hope we can find him quickly."

"Once we set up a headquarters and a lab, I'll send someone on a scouting mission for him."

"Any thought on where that should be?"

Doffy shook his head. Punk Hazard had been ideal; abandoned, unseemly, and large enough for Caesar's experiments to be tested without notice while the crew had been residing in Dressrosa. Now they needed a new defendable location large enough for SAD and SMILEs to be produced and to house the crew, some employees, and possibly Caesar himself.

Doffy placed his palm over his forehead, rubbing firmly to try and ease the stress. It was the same question they'd been stuck pondering over for weeks. Nuvo had suggested Harmelude, population zero, but everyone had agreed that it was too risky. It was undoubtedly the first place the Marines would search for them. So, they had no fresh ideas.

"We can't stay down here forever," he sighed. Nuvo quirked an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

Now Doffy had a quirked brow. Nuvo scooted her chair away from the table and slipped underneath it, pushing the legs of the other chairs out of her way as she crawled between Doffy's legs. She ran her hands up his long legs, slowing her pace as she traced his clothed inner thighs with her fingernails. With some assistance she dragged his trousers and underclothes down to his ankles. He was already half hard. She looked up at him from beneath the table.

"Are you sure we can't just stay here beneath the sea forever?" she crooned, grasping his cock and tugging slightly, eliciting a sharp inhale from the Captain. After a few pumps, he was throbbing in her hand. She suckled the tip of his cock, lapping at the sensitive head as she continued to squeeze him. He let his head roll back as he leaned his hips forward, urging her to take him in deeper. She complied, tasting as much of him as her throat would allow without gagging. Saliva dripped from her mouth and his cock onto the chair. She used her free hand to hitch up her dress and tap at her clit through her panties.

She moaned around his cock and he fisted her hair, forcing her head up and down at a faster rate. She rubbed her clit harder, and her own arousal began to soak into her thin panties. Doffy was arching into her mouth, nearly completely out of his chair. He was getting close, and the low groans that flowed from his mouth were guiding Nuvo closer every second. She was about to burst when he managed to choke out two words.

"Parasite string…"

Unwillingly, Nuvo ceased her ministrations and slithered from beneath the table, standing fully before Doffy. With a flick of his wrist she turned sharply on her heel and slammed herself down over the table. Bent over and fully spread, she felt the cool air on her labia as he sliced her drenched panties to ribbons. The unseen force yanked Nuvo's hand back to her clitoris, forcing her to continue to touch herself at a languid pace.

Doffy hurriedly aligned his cock with her cunt and drove himself forward, thrusting rapidly as Nuvo circled her clit swiftly. She didn't know if he was still using his ability or not, but as he slid a finger into her tight ass, she realized it didn't matter. She couldn't have stopped herself if she wanted too, which she did _not_.

Her orgasm hit hard, her tightening muscles forcing him over the edge as well. They both slipped to the floor; Doffy's rough thrusting had pushed the table several feet across the room, sending papers with partially formed plans fluttering all over the place. Nuvo, still panting, gathered up a few sheets in her hands. Among these papers was a written list of enemies of merit, including some random names of shady brokers from the underworld with whom Doffy had experienced bad deals and obvious groups like the Marines, the Straw Hats, the Celestial Dragons…

"I know where to go."

He looked at her, inquisitive behind his shades. He loved the visage of her now; bloodred tendrils awry, the sheen of sweat slowly drying over her skin, nipples still peaking, pupils still dilated from the pleasure he had bestowed only moments ago, all cast in varying shades of red by his lenses. She hypnotized him more than any woman he'd ever been with. Power was synonymous with beauty to him, and she was supremely endowed.

"Where, Nuvovniya?"

She smiled slightly at his stubborn refusal to call her by her shorter name like the others, but she had to admit that the smoothness of it dripping off of his tongue sent shivers down her back every time. She knew he was focused on her behind those glasses, and the feeling of his eyes was almost enough to convince her to forget her point and drape herself over him again. _Fuck_, he was beautiful.

"Mariejois."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I know it's been months since I updated and I am so sorry. I got swept up in the holidays and I also took a second job, so I've hardly had time to do anything fun. I promise I never forgot about this story and I have no intention of abandoning it, I just can't promise updates as regularly as before. Thanks for all your support! 3

Dust billowed about him in gentle swirls as Doflamingo walked slowly on the sprawling floor of the Donquixote family estate in Mariejois. He glided through the main hall of the luxurious home, his childhood home, stepping lightly, as though he didn't really want his feet to come into contact with the marble floor. It was evident that no one had been in the house since his family had abandoned it so many years ago; all the original furniture was still there. The only significant change was that the large windows throughout the house all had their heavy curtains drawn tightly. _So dark_, he thought, _like a glamourous Impel Down_. In his boyhood, the windows had often been wide open, allowing the clean air of the holy lands to waft in and tousle his hair. He imagined they'd been shut off to keep people away, but who here would bother peeping? With all the shame surrounding his family name, no Celestial Dragon would have any reason to approach the place. This was what had made it an ideal entry point for Doffy and his crew to infiltrate for the invasion.

After meeting up with an old contact from his arms-dealing days, the crew had acquired around a hundred horned den den mushi. The breed was well known for it's ability to jam radio transmissions; thusly, the whole lot had been released around the base of the island, just a few feet below the water. With so many together, the amphibious snails had created a sort of communication firewall around the island. No messages in, no messages out. Nuvo imagined the citizens were already hard at work trying to determine the cause of the problem, but who would think to look so far down?

With all contact with the outside world muted, the crew had made their move. A familiar trick of Nuvo's had created a passageway within the island's core, connecting the _Jailbird_ to the deserted Donquixote estate, and one by one they had begun to emerge in Doffy's former palace, silent as a graveyard snowfall. Doffy himself had come through first and was thankful that he had a moment to spare for sentimentality before the rest of his family appeared. He looked on the gloomy scene and smiled bittersweetly, remembering the pleasant time he had here before his foolish father had made the wrongful choice that left him scavenging for scraps with his brother in the streets as a small boy. Despite his best effort to keep them at bay, revisiting the house was pulling the ghosts of his biological family right out of his head and into the room with him. He envisioned his younger self and his brother playing chase around the formerly lush armchairs, his parents across the room, arm in arm, smiling at their antics.

Rosinante would've liked Nuvovniya.

His mother and father might've, too.

He shoved the pang of hurt he had given himself into a box in the back of his head and turned to face his new family, his _true_ family, as the last of them emerged from the passageway. His time for nostalgia spent, he gave a wordless signal, and then everyone was running. Pangaea castle wasn't far.

…

Commander-in-Chief Kong had been having a very strange dream. He was in his bed, but something was wrong. There were serpents; tiny, skinny ones, slithering all over his body. They were binding him tightly to himself. It was very unpleasant to be having such a dream, especially considering that he had gone to bed so exhausted after spending the day trying to solve the connection problem with Marine Headquarters. When he woke fully, he tried to shake his head, to rid it of any reminder of the foul dream, when he realized that he really _was_ bound, not by snakes, but by something that felt a lot like thread.

"Good evening, Kong."

The voice carried a chill, and Kong realized with a start that Donquixote Doflamingo was standing in a corner of his room, leaning confidently against the wall. The commander tried to thrash about to no avail. He considered shouting, but he had a nasty feeling that it would do no good. It was to be assumed that anyone within hearing range of his room had surely fallen victim to the pirate's attack already, if the damnable man had made it this far. So, Kong went with his best and only option. He spoke.

"What do you want?"

The pirate grinned maliciously.

"I appreciate your bluntness, chief. That's a valuable business ethic rarely found in places so political as the Navy. But a Commander-in -Chief is quite the rare title, isn't it?"

Kong didn't respond.

"I'm here on a matter of business, Kong. I simply need you to draw up some paperwork for me. I find myself no longer imprisoned, but still a wanted man, and this poses certain… _problems_ for my family and I. All I need from you to help resolve those problems is an official pardon. Signed and notarized by the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. What do you say?"

Kong scoffed.

"You're insane to think I would do such a thing for a man like you."

"Sir, I am completely sane. I realize that under normal circumstances you would never give me the pardon. But you misunderstand the position that you're in. Your circumstances aren't normal tonight."

Doffy flicked his fingers and the strings holding Kong tightened, making it difficult for the poor man to breathe. _This must be what it feels like to be in a boa constrictor's grip_, Kong thought humorlessly, recalling his dream, which felt less dreamlike every passing minute.

"Let me be absolutely clear," Doffy continued. "You WILL grant me the pardon, or I will slice your head off along with every head of every person in this city, and send them raining down all over the world."

Kong felt a prickling sensation as his right arm and hand were released from the strings, allowing the blood to flow freely back into his fingers. Doffy stepped away, then returned with quill and ink.

"Let's not make this any more difficult, hmm?"

…

"This is preposterous. You know very well that no one here is willing to reinstate Donquixotie Doflamingo's title as a Celestial Dragon." The long-bearded Elder was very calm for a man yanked from his bed and bound to a chair by pirates. The other Elders were in a similar state, looking a bit disheveled in their bedclothes, but still giving off a regal air. Nuvo nodded her head, and tried again.

"I understand your concern, but his title was rejected by his father in childhood, not by Doflamingo himself. He never wanted to leave your community. Why shouldn't he be allowed to rejoin? You must agree that holding a child responsible for the choices of his parents isn't fair."

The long-bearded Elder gave her a hard look.

"I do hold him responsible for sending his father's decapitated head to Mariejois after murdering him, an action he performed as a child."

Nuvo felt her chest constrict. She knew Doffy had killed his father, but she didn't know _that_. The Elder met her eyes and continued.

"He's done even more depraved things since then, as I'm sure you know. You may be a strong enough person to forgive him for them, which is courageous, but bravery and foolishness go hand in hand. He is a monster, and I am no fool. We will not allow him to return to this place as a Celestial Dragon."

"You act like the decision is in yours in the first place!" Sugar snarled. "If you haven't noticed, we have the upper hand here! So be cooperative and sign the documents! We might even let you live."

Long-Beard chuckled.

"Child, I've just informed your friend that I am no fool. I'm quite sure that you'll kill me whether I sign or not, no why aid you?"

"I'm over twenty…" said Sugar through clenched teeth.

Nuvo sighed. She had hoped that the Elders, in their feeble old age, would be easy enough to convince. That had been naïve of her; after all, they weren't THE Elders for nothing. She hoped Doffy was having better luck. Trebol and Gladius had gone with him to assist with palace guards and stand outside the door while negotiation with Kong went on. Pica, Giolla and Machvise were guarding the entrances to the meeting room where the Elders had been dragged. That left Diamante with Dellinger and Senor Pink, and the trio was making their way from mansion to mansion, rallying troops for the army it would take to make this mission a success.

…

Richard was twelve years old when the Celestial Dragons had murdered his family and assigned him to another, as a slave instead of a son. That was three years ago, and he's spent most of his time since then dreaming of a better life and missing his mother. For such a long time he'd hoped someone would come and help him escape this reality, his own knight in shining armor, so to speak. And now, this very night, he got three of them. Three unbelievably strong men had barged into the mansion where he'd been asked to do deplorable things for the family he served. They forced the hysterical nobles into the parlor and tied them up, then turned to Richard and the six other slaves of the household. For a moment Richard was afraid; these people looked stark raving mad, and one would have to be a little crazy to attack a Celestial Dragon family like this. But then the thinnest man, the one with high heels on his feet and horns on either side of his head approached Richard and extended his pale hand.

"Would you like to help us right the wrongs of this place?"

Richard nodded, and took the young man's hand.

…

"It was you who prevented communication with headquarters, wasn't it?"

Doffy smirked at the Chief, who was just finishing his signature on the pardon.

"Indeed. Couldn't have the admirals bombing my new headquarters."

Kong tried to nod, but the threads around his throat made it very difficult. He indicated that he was finished and Doffy snatched the paper from him, reading it over quickly. Once he was sure that it was complete and correct, he turned his attention back to the bed.

"You know what happens now, of course."

Kong closed his eyes.

"You're going to kill me. I knew that the moment I saw you in this room. But I hope you realize that even if tonight proves a total success for you, it wont last. Someone will defeat you eventually. It might not be soon, and though it pains me to admit it, it might not even be the Navy, but eventually someone will bring you down. After all, it happened once already."

Doffy sneered and tightened his strings around the man's thick neck. Kong sputtered and his face began to purple as the oxygen in his head depleted. In a few moments he was dead, and Doffy left the room without looking back.

…

"JUST SIGN THE FUCKING PAPERS YOU USELESS OLD MAN!" Sugar had been screaming at Long-Beard for quite some time, but the old man wouldn't budge. The other Elders didn't even bother to speak to the girls, much less sign. All the yelling was giving Nuvo a headache, and she wished that Sugar would try to find a quieter method of intimidation or persuasion. After all, this one clearly wasn't working.

She jumped when the left entrance burst open, but was relieved to see Doffy, Gladius, and Trebol waltzing in with Pica. She could tell from Doffy's wide grin that he'd been triumphant with the Commander-in-Chief. The Elders all focused their attention on the tall blonde leader, a few curious eyes flickering to the document in his hand and back to his face again.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter ladies? Can't get these old men to sign your paper?" Trebol mocked, and Nuvo was sure that Sugar was going to start screaming even louder than before, but Doffy gave his officer a strong look.

"I have an official pardon from Kong. It forgives all my outstanding crimes. Signed in his genuine hand."

Doffy attached a string to the document and threw it before the Elders, allowing it to float at the faces of each Elder in turn. Long-Beard was incredulous upon seeing the unforged pardon.

"I wish to speak with Kong about this myself."

"Well, he's dead, so that won't be possible."

For the first time, Long-Beard's face paled. But he regained himself quickly.

"You can kill every person on this island, but you still won't win. You can't. Evil such as yours is never the victor forever."

Doflamingo had really had enough of that sort of talk this evening, so he simply shot parasite threads into each Elder, forcing five signatures onto his reinstatement documents. He recollected the papers and put them together with the official pardon. Then he flicked his wrist, and the five Elders were no more.

…

Diamante and his group finished rounding up the Celestial Dragon families after a few hours. It seemed so quick, but after all, there are only so many people who carry the title and the released slaves knew the terrain better than anyone else. With them forming separate teams of their own to liberate their neighbors, Doffy's new army had spread through Mariejois like a ripple in a still body of water, and by three in the morning every noble in the holy lands was contained in the grand hall of Richard's old home. It wasn't difficult to fit them either; these mansions are enormous.

With all the necessary paperwork in hand, the Donquixote Pirates reunited amongst all their new prisoners and allies. The Dragons had been piled up in the middle of the largest room in the house, all bound and gagged in the fetal position and looking like sacks of potatoes. The former slaves mingled about on the outskirts of the room, mingling proudly around the sad group in the middle while wearing their previous masters' clothes, drinking their wine, and in general making quite merry, despite the late hour. They all paid attention when Doflamingo and his crew came together, and a loud round of applause rose all the way to the vaulted ceiling.

"How can we ever repay you?" One woman sobbed. Others in the room expressed similar sentiment, and Doffy raised his hand gently to shush the crowd.

"The Celestial Dragons have been a plague for generations, bringing nothing but sorrow to every corner of this world! But my friends, after tonight, they will all disappear! Their tyranny will be no more!"

The room erupted in cheers and stomps.

"My friends, after tonight, I will rule over the Holy Lands of Mariejois as the only remaining Celestial Dragon in the world, and I vow to you that my rule will create a new meaning for the title! With my takeover, the world need no longer fear the words Celestial Dragon. As proof of my sincerity, the only repayment I ask of you all is to go back to the homes you were torn from! Go, and tell everyone who will listen that Donquixote Doflamingo and his family saved you from the clutches of real evil!"

The celebratory shout that the crowd provided after Doffy finished was loud enough to shake the building. The crew was whooping too, but Nuvovniya found herself unable to join the festivities with her whole heart. She couldn't shake the feeling that this had all been a bit too easy, too quick, and Long-Beards' final words kept looming in the back of her mind. It felt like a warning.

But then Doffy was smiling at her, and it was the most real smile she'd ever seen grace his face. There was no malice in it, no cynicism or mockery. He'd reclaimed his homeland, brought his family to the place he felt they most deserved to be. It was his true face, and gazing upon it she felt that even if the Navy bombed the whole island in an hour and the lot of them went up in a pile of gore and ashes, it'd still be worth it for the few seconds in which that expression had blossomed.

…

The sunshine of the next morning still managed to greet everyone through the thick fog of either drunkenness or despair that had lulled them all to troubled sleep. After consuming a plentiful breakfast whose sudden appearance couldn't be explained by any of the former slaves, the crew had assisted them in thieving the remainder of useful resources from Mariejois and escorting them to the bondolas. By late afternoon, only the Donquixote pirates and the Celestial Dragons remained in the holy lands.

With a calculated flick, Doffy cut loose every child looking to be under the age of twelve amongst the prisoners. They got up shakily, legs cramped from being tied up all night and rubbing raw wrists.

"Children, please follow Miss Sugar," Doffy announced. "She'll be taking you for a hot bath and a good meal in a neighboring house."

Nuvo tried to bury her urge to cringe. The children would be getting a bath and meal, but they wouldn't ever be seeing their parents again. Some of the Dragons had the good sense to realize what this separation meant, and she watched them stare down their children, trying to communicate goodbye with eyes alone, but most of the children paid no attention. These were entitled youngsters; they had been shocked by the way they'd been treated in the past hours, but they couldn't fully grasp the danger before them. Their parents would be slaughtered, and they would be turned into toys. Then they would be put to work. This was the part of the plan that she had disagreed most with, although she understood the necessity of help to run the new base of operations and it really was a better alternative to murdering a bunch of kids.

Better, but barely.

With all the children whisked away, Doffy turned his attention back to the Dragons.

"Do not fear, your offspring will be spared. I cannot afford you all the same luxury."

The crowd trembled. The rest of the crew had made their way to one side of the room, where a few armchairs and a sofa had been set up all against the wall. Nuvo sat on the sofa between Dellinger and Diamante and watched with baited breath. She knew she was about to watch Doflamingo destroy all of these people, but she wasn't sure how. Would he use his strings to slice off all their heads all at once? Suffocate them? Shoot bullet strings through every temple? She didn't know, and she didn't exactly want to watch the carnage unfold, but Doffy had insisted everyone but Sugar be present.

_Why? _

"But all hope is not lost! I have decided that I am in the mood for a game."

_A game?_ Doffy continued.

"I have graciously decided to bestow all of you the most miraculous of all treasures! That treasure, is a chance! Yes, that's right, someone in this room is going to be allowed to live today!"

_What?!_ Nuvo glanced at the rest of the crew, and they seemed just as confused as herself. This had not been a part of the plan they'd discussed. It hurt her more than she'd ever admit that he hadn't trusted her with this information. He began to smoothly walk backward to the wall where the rest of the crew waited. He gestured at Dellinger, who glanced apologetically at Nuvo and then moved to sit elsewhere. Doffy elegantly seated himself beside her, casually draping one arm over her shoulder. With the other arm, he pointed to the ceiling of the room.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

Several white strings shot forward from Doffy's extended fingers, balling together in the center of the ceiling, them streaming outward and down towards the floor like a firework turned inside out. The strings enveloped the Dragons and hardened into steel-like bars, sealing them together under a sort of dome. _No, more of a cage than a dome,_ Nuvo thought, _more of a…_

Nuvovniya stopped breathing.

…_a birdcage..._

"The rules are simple. The last person left alive in this cage will be enslaved to my crew."

He twisted his fingers and suddenly everyone in the cage was released. They looked at each other uncertainly. _They won't play_, she thought with relief. _Some of them must be friends, surely, they'll refuse to play…_

"BEGIN!"

But these are Celestial Dragons we're talking about. They have no compassion or sympathy for other people. Of course, they played. It was pandemonium. Bigger players choked smaller ones. Some people gouged out eyes with fingernails, then beat the blind to death. One man was trampled by three others, who turned on each other as soon as the man on the floor was dead. It was awful, but Nuvo didn't dare show any sign of repulsion. Doffy wasn't watching the players. He was watching her. Diamante was, too. She understood with horror that she was being tested. She was being exposed to the real darkness behind Doflamingo for the first time, the side of him that had been a murdering criminal since childhood, profane enough to land him in the worst part of the worst place in the world.

The place she'd ended up, too.

Nuvovniya had a darkness of her own, that she knew. But it had been born of different circumstances than his, and it wasn't anywhere near this intense. For the first time, she wasn't sure that she could handle this. Him. She was frightened.

But she was raised in a palace and knew how to show resigned grace. She did not gasp when blood sprayed the tiles at her feet. She did not shake when a woman in the cage tore out a chunk of another's throat with her teeth. She held firm and finally it was over. A small brunette stood amongst the exposed bones and ripped flesh, wide-eyed and panting. She looked to be close to thirty.

Doffy clapped his hands twice. "What is your name?" he asked.

"Juliette." The woman whispered. Doffy grinned.

"Congratulations, Juliette. Welcome to your enslavement."


	9. Chapter 9

Nuvo stifled an absurd guffaw at the thought that she had fallen asleep much easier while chained to the floor of a jail cell than now, when snuggled in the sheets of a gold gilded bed. Sugar did not share her dilemma, and was snoring soundly next to her. They had taken more permanent residence in the Donquixote estate and now lounged in one of the home's many bedrooms, as did the rest of the crew now that the game was finished. Doffy had chosen to retire to his boyhood bedchambers, where Nuvo had of course been invited, but their conversation about the game had concluded with Nuvo running from the bedchamber. What a strange conversation it had been.

It had reminded Nuvo of their early time in prison, when she had spoken to him very vaguely as not to reveal too much of her identity. She'd had no idea at the time that he knew exactly who she was from the start, and this time she felt like he was well aware that she was treading carefully with her questioning. He made her feel transparent, like he could read every thought behind her eyes. It infuriated her that she was unable to read him back. Must have been the damn shades.

"What exactly was the purpose of the game?" Nuvo had asked him in as light a tone as she could muster. "I thought ALL the Celestial Dragons had to be disposed of."

Translation: What the actual fuck was that all about?!

"I didn't want to miss an opportunity to recruit extra help for the crew. The noble children won't be available, and a house this large will require upkeep, the extent of which a former noble will already be familiar with, even if she's never performed household duties herself. She'll be a personal servant for the family. A maid."

"But why was such a game necessary for this position? Couldn't you have simply chosen someone at random or hired extra hands from a different source at a later time?"

Translation: That was beyond unnecessary and you could have EASILY chosen someone at random or hired someone else.

"I only accept the best, Nuvovniya. I expect a certain level of durability, charm, and intelligence in anyone regularly allowed in my presence, and anyone capable of surviving that game has earned the privilege of serving this family."

"Why the birdcage method?"

Translation: How could you imprison people and force them to murder each other to escape? Have you forgotten what imprisonment feels like? Do you not remember the nights we spent desperately wanting to be out? Do you not remember calling me songbird while I sang you songs of sweet things that existed only outside those bars? You frightened me! You tried to impress a bird with a birdcage and you don't see how twisted that is?! How?! Why?!

"It is a specialty of mine. I've found it useful in the past and I found it useful today."

"Why didn't you tell me you planned to do it?"

Translation: Why wasn't I worthy?

"I didn't see any need."

"Liar."

His expression did not change. He didn't deny the accusation. He simply looked at her through his dark lenses and waited for her to continue.

"I don't mean to insult you, but that lie insults me. I saw you watching me once the game started. I'm not sure if you enlisted Diamante to do the same or if he did so simply because he had interests of his own, but his assessment of my capability to be successful on this crew is irrelevant to me. I do care what your opinion of me is, in spite of myself, but I have proven to you on multiple occasions that I am trustworthy. So why did you feel the need to test me?"

Doffy remained statuesque. Nuvo felt rage prickling the back of her neck, but she was determined not to erupt. She'd decimated an entire island population the last time, after all.

"I think that you did it because you're afraid. Not of me, of course. You aren't the type of man to fear any flesh and blood being. I think you're afraid of the power that your own feelings for me have over you. I think perhaps you let me get closer to you than any of the rest of this family, maybe even closer than your brother was. In a way you almost _love_ me, and that _terrifies_ you, because you can't control it, and the only way that you can make yourself feel better is by putting on something like that carnival. It was a total sham, wasn't it? Nothing more than a flimsy attempt at a show of total domination over your environment, and everyone in it. You may be Captain, but do not forget that it was I who saved you and your family from Impel Down. I am the one who brought us to Mariejois! And before all that, I murdered my brother and razed the land of Harmelude to the fucking ground! So, don't you _dare_ presume to test me ever again, Donquixote Doflamingo! I've passed all my tests, and I am not responsible for your loss of control of yourself!"

Her shouting had left her panting, yet he still refused to move. He only allowed that jackal-like grin to spread across his face, then spoke at a volume hardly above a whisper.

"Does it seem to you that I am the one suffering a loss of control over myself at this moment?"

Nuvo's body moved faster than her brain. Her eyes unfocused entirely, then she was charging at him. There was a loud pop and a moment later she was blinking rapidly at a blurred object on the ground to her right. _What is that?_... she thought hazily as she became aware of a throb in her hand. When she looked at her palm it was bright red. She looked back to the floor, at the fuzzy thing becoming clearer, and finally her mind scraped enough neural power together to make sense of what it was.

It was a pair of dark lensed sunglasses.

Doffy's glasses. On the floor. Not on his face.

She had slapped Donquixote Doflamingo's glasses _off of his face._

She was mortified at herself, but she only had a second to think about her discretion before she remembered that he was still in the room. Then came the stuttering realization that those shades were still on the floor and that his full face, for the first time in the history of knowing him, was exposed to her. All she had to do was turn and look, and she would know the exact shade of his eyes.

She could _see_ him.

There was no sound in the room but her panting, which she quelled when she realized its presence. Suddenly she felt like an insect in a spider's web; not one frantically trying to escape the sticky clutches of its environment, but one who had accepted the loss and had been subsequently drained of all its lifeforce. Sucked dry. With a raspy voice, she eventually managed to speak again.

"I cannot bear the sight of you tonight."

Without a single glance at his face, she had fled the room.

She hadn't explained the argument to Sugar when she found her room. She did not need to. Sugar took one look at Nuvo's scattered face; a hybrid of confusion, anger, and shame, and allowed the woman to share her bedroom with no questions asked. Nuvo couldn't help but wonder if Sugar recognized her distress because she had dealt with similar behavior from Monet when she was alive, and the thought made her uncomfortable.

Her mind kept racing with uncomfortable thoughts and showed no signs of slowing, so Nuvo decided to give up on sleep entirely. She rose from Sugar's bed and quietly went through the bedroom door without jostling the sleeping girl. It had been awhile since she'd had some time to herself, and now was a perfect opportunity to explore the mansion. As long as she avoided Doffy's bedchambers, she'd be fine.

The house really was in pristine condition, despite being abandoned for so many years. The nightgown she'd conjured for herself was cream colored and wispy, and combined with the dusty ambiance it made her feel like a ghost haunting the hallways as she glided from room to room, peeking at each one's contents. She found a library, a smoking lounge, a dressing room, and what appeared to be an art studio. She also found many additional bedrooms. She was beginning to worry about getting lost in the labyrinthine house, and was about to head back to Sugar's room when she noticed a strange door.

The entire house up to this point had wooden doors, but this one looked like thick glass. It was dirty, so Nuvo couldn't see through to the room's interior, but the craftsmanship of the door was intriguing. Nuvo tried the doorknob and was delighted to find the room unlocked. Carefully, she stepped through the dingy doorway.

It was an indoor garden. Well, it was once an indoor garden.

The entire room was made of glass and built onto the exterior of the house to allow the sun to shine in. There were dozens of dead plants and flowers around the room; some in pots on the floor, some hanging from the ceiling, some crawling along ornate trellises, but all dead. There were plentiful gardening supplies along the far wall and an apron and gloves hung on a hook by the door. They looked fancy, but frequently worn.

Nuvo imagined the room in full bloom, with rainbow piles of petals all over the floor and green vines twisting harmoniously over everything. With a deep inhale, she began singing.

"_Midnight blooms in moonlit hues,_

_Hear my song and please take root._

_Spread your seeds to become trees,_

_Branches sprout to yield good fruit._

_Roses red and orchid heads,_

_Perfume air and drench my hair._

_Flowers grow and nature show,_

_This blank room some color care…"_

The room overflowed with flora. Newborn plants pushed through the soil and over the dead ones, brightening the room significantly. Small trees came from the large pots on the floor. The room felt much more humid and smelled damper. Nuvo inhaled the pleasant flower scent deeply, and her body accepted the aromatherapy gratefully. It had been a long time since she sang just to create something simple to make herself happy, and she felt so relaxed that she had hope she could catch some sleep after all.

She gathered a few pretty blooms to take back to Sugar's room, then turned back toward the glass door. She nearly dropped them when she saw the winner, Juliette, standing in the doorway. She looked a lot better now that she'd gotten cleaned up, but that feral look from the cage still lingered in her eyes. The slim brunette stood there with her arms crossed, looking at Nuvo through slits.

"Are you a witch?"

The question confused Nuvo. She'd never been asked it before, and her first instinct was to laugh, but Juliette looked painfully serious.

"I don't think so. Everyone from my home could do things like this."

"And where is that?"

It was odd that a person demoted from highest nobility to imprisoned servitude in a matter of days could remain so haughty in tone and forward in question. Why did she care to know, anyway? _Perhaps she's just trying to gather more information on her attackers,_ Nuvo thought. _Can't blame her for that. But I don't trust her... _

"It doesn't exist anymore, so there's no point in discussing it."

Juliette smiled sourly.

"What a polite way to avoid telling me you're the reason it doesn't exist. How charming."

Nuvo didn't know how to respond. The petite brunette across from her rolled her eyes.

"I know you're Princess Nuvovniya of Harmelude. No one could ever seem to agree on whether you really destroyed the place or not, but I know you did."

Nuvo was really getting tired of people knowing who she was before she could tell them, but decided to let it go this time. The reality of the situation was that she had gotten rather famous lately, so she may as well get used to being recognized. Being recognized by strangers isn't inherently negative, but Nuvo was famous for negative things. She didn't really want this woman to be afraid of her, but she wasn't going to let her guard down either.

"What makes you so sure?"

Juliette laughed harshly through her nose.

"Your eyes. I saw everyone's eyes when I was finished in that cage. I was standing there all alone, soaked in blood of people I've known my whole life, and I had to focus on something else, _anything_ else, so I looked at the details of your faces to distract myself from the bodies on the ground. That little bull boy looked quite ashamed. Others looked like they were gleeful, or even aroused, like they'd just enjoyed it. But you, darling," she drawled, pacing along the outer wall of the room, "you looked absolutely devoid of feeling. Like a corpse done up for a post mortem portrait. There was nothing behind your eyes. Not even apathy. And I thought to myself, anyone that who can lock themselves away so thoroughly is capable of unmeasurable darkness."

Nuvo's stomach felt like she'd swallowed a lake and it had frozen inside her, stiffening her organs and arteries so she was a statue of cold, like a graveside monument. She wanted to justify herself, to explain that she'd only looked like that because it was the only way she knew how to manage the terror she had felt during the game, but who would she be to speak to Juliette about that fear? _Oh, I know the birdcage was tough for you, but can you imagine how hard it was for me to watch?_ How ridiculous. So, she said nothing at all, and Juliette hissed at her through gritted teeth.

"I bet you looked just that way when you murdered everyone on that island. My husband was there, you know. Do you remember Saint Marlettow?"

…

Akainu sat behind his overly large desk, hands folded before him in the way of all pensive military men. Donquixote Doflamingo's package of paperwork had arrived a few hours ago and its contents were scattered to one side of the mahogany workstation. Fujitora had listened patiently as the reinstatement and government pardon were read aloud to him, not allowing his face to emote any alarm. Ryokugyu was nowhere to be found and Sengoku was busy dealing with a problem in the south blue, so the two had no option but to figure out what to do by themselves.

"I think a buster call is in order." Akainu was in a stage of such severe frustration that he had exhausted his ability to fume and was eerily calm. Fujitora exhaled loudly through his nostrils.

"Are you seriously suggesting that we attack the nobility?"

Akainu gave him an incredulous look, then sighed when he remembered the man couldn't see it.

"You don't think he made it up there and left anyone alive, do you?"

"There's no way to know for sure. I have no doubt that the elders and Kong have been killed, and I realize that both Doflamingo and Nuvovniya of Harmelude have a grudge to bear against the Celestial Dragons, but eliminating every person on the island for the sake of petty vengeance would be a waste of resources. I would be willing to bet that at least some of them have been enslaved."

"Do you think the public would sincerely be upset by the loss of the world nobles?" Akainu suggested quietly.

"I think that the public would be disappointed in a government that deliberately sacrificed a group of people they are sworn to protect in order to vanquish a simple pirate crew."

"They are _not_ a simple pirate crew."

"Then an over simplified solution will not solve the problem, and the mass destruction involved in a buster call is nothing if not over simplified."

Akainu sighed again, more heavily this time.

"What do you suggest, Fujitora?"

"We may be able to use these circumstances as an opportunity. Doflamingo has taken serious effort to establish himself as a genuine Celestial Dragon, even if by unsavory means. If we stick to our own rules, we cannot touch him. So, for now, I suggest we play his game. Let's spread the word that he is officially pardoned and has been reinstated with the support of the Navy. Another News Coo announcement will do. He is an ex-warlord; let it appear as though we are giving him a second chance."

"People will think we've all gone mad!"

"Perhaps. But the moment he disappoints the public, as he most certainly will, we will have a tangible excuse to destroy him by any means necessary. If, when that day comes, every other Celestial Dragon is exterminated in the process of bringing down Doflamingo, the blame will fall on the Donquixote family, where it belongs. The Navy will lose no face and we will have hit two birds with one stone, so to speak."

Akainu considered, then sighed for a third time and gathered up the paperwork.

"Let's get these documents to the communications department. We're going to need several copies."

…

Juliette's eyes misted over upon utterance of her deceased husband's name, and for the first time since she'd met the woman, Nuvo thought she looked very much human. Saint Marlettow's name struck a chord in Nuvo; she hadn't known his name at the time, but she could never forget the slimy man who'd felled her parents beside her that day. She felt that old anger rising in her again, but tried to push it down. Juliette had known the man as her husband, not as a murderer, and it would be unfair to lash out at her for his crimes.

"Yes, I remember him."

"He was not the kindest man, but he was a decent husband and a decent father. Did you know we have a daughter? Elanor. You've _orphaned_ her, you know. That's assuming she's alive."

Nuvo's insides grew icier still, and she fought not to recall the faces of the noble children who had been taken away before the game started. Sugar had already started transforming them into toys, but she could only do so one at a time, so a number of children would have to wait until tomorrow or later. Nuvo realized painfully that if Juliette remembered her daughter's existence, she must still be her human self, imprisoned somewhere in this house. How alone she must feel…

"Do you have any children?"

Nuvo shook her head at the woman, unable to speak.

"Then you cannot fathom the fear I hold in my heart now. I won't waste time trying to explain it to someone like you. I didn't even want her at first, but when you're a noblewoman and your husband wants an heir, what can you do? He was so disappointed when she was born, because she wasn't a son. Men are like that, you know. It's only a matter of time before that leader of yours is forcing your legs open to produce little abominations to take care of the family business."

Juliette was snarling, and the spark of humanity Nuvo had seen before seemed to have fizzled out.

"Or perhaps," the brunette continued, creeping forward like a serpent, "he doesn't have to force you at all. I don't blame you; he is a beautiful monster, and even now I don't think I'd mind going to bed with him myself. Do you think he'll have me perform such services for him? All those nasty things he wouldn't do to you?"

Nuvo was reeling. The loathing coming off of the other woman was fierce and admittedly deserved, but Nuvo couldn't imagine saying such lewd things about a man who had taken away her child and forced her into servitude. But then she thought that maybe this was Juliette's way of coping; blaming all the horrible things that had happened to her on Nuvo might make it easier to serve Doffy and the rest of the family. She'd have to play nice with them all, but she could unleash some of the pent-up rage on Nuvo because she had more reason to bear a grudge with her than with the others. Sure, the Donquixote pirates had destroyed her home, demoted her, and left her doomed to forget her baby, but Nuvo had been a part of all that AND she had killed her husband long before. Juliette must realize that provoking Nuvovniya was dangerous, but really, what did the poor woman have to lose? Nuvo pitied her, but she couldn't let this woman run her over entirely.

"I'm sorry for what has happened to you, but I would appreciate it if you kept your thoughts on my Captain to yourself. He wouldn't appreciate this behavior. If you're smart, and I know you are, you'll do as your told by the new members of this household. If you misbehave or disobey, it will mean great danger for you. And Elanor as well."

"Don't you _dare_ speak her name. You have no right."

Juliette turned on her heel and left the garden. When she could no longer hear the other woman's footsteps, she picked up the flowers she had dropped an eternity ago and made her way back to Sugar's room. Once there, she finally fell into an uncomfortable slumber.


	10. Chapter 10

The next few weeks at the Donquixote estate passed blurrily. Everyone had an important job to do. Pica, Machvise, and Gladius were in charge of constructing the new SMILE factory and lab. Their strength and terraforming abilities were making the work go quickly. Giolla was having a field day redecorating the estate, and despite her own dramatic tastes, she was doing an excellent job giving the house a feeling of elegance and aristocracy. Senor Pink and Dellinger were in charge of cleaning up the mess the invasion had made, and had a seemingly never-ending list of chores, supplied mostly by Diamante when he wasn't glued to Doflamingo's side plotting whatever it was they were plotting. Sugar finished transforming the children and was flooded with toys needing orders. They were mostly helping keep the house in order, since the new SMILE factory and lab were still being set up. They were taking orders mostly from Juliette, who was much more complacent now that she'd forgotten her daughter's existence, and she seemed to enjoy ordering the toys about. It turned Nuvo's stomach to think that the woman may unknowingly be forcing her daughter to scrub the floors of her own prison, but sacrifices must be made to firmly rule a kingdom.

Not that Nuvovniya felt much like a ruler these days.

With everyone being so busy, she hoped that no one would notice the chill that had emerged in her relationship with Doffy. They hadn't spoken any more than what was absolutely necessary since their argument. She couldn't sleep with Sugar forever, so she decided to set up her own bedroom in the indoor garden that she had discovered. Doffy didn't know where she was sleeping and did not bother to ask her. This hurt her feelings initially, but she realized it wasn't that he didn't want to know, it was that he was too proud to ask. She felt like they were playing a silly game of cat and mouse, but she could never be sure which of them was the feline.

…

Doffy wasn't sure who was the feline either, but he knew that he disliked his bed being cold. He had never been a sex fiend, even when his position of power would have easily allowed him to indulge in such behavior, but Nuvo had awoken something in him the night they had escaped Impel Down. He now craved a woman's touch feverishly; the feeling of thighs gripping his waist, the taste of feminine arousal on his lips. He wanted to sweat. He knew that the ice between Nuvovniya and himself would melt eventually, and _ohhhh _the _heat_ when it did…

But he wouldn't let himself cave. Absolutely not. He would wait to see how Nuvovniya would try and make peace. He knew she would have to try eventually. She was smart enough to know that being on the bad side of the new King of Mariejois was not a position she wanted to be in. She was also smart enough to know quite a few positions that would please them both. And Diamante was smart enough to know when his Captain was not paying the proper amount of attention to him.

"Doffy, I sense that your mind is not focused on the task at hand."

The blonde man sighed over the map that covered the table where he and Diamante sat sipping brandy.

"Forgive my wandering mind, my friend. I'm distracted by my lack of distractions."

"I see. May I be bold?"

Doffy arched an eyebrow. Diamante was not the sort of man to ask permission for boldness. But it was a delicate conversation topic.

"Speak freely."

"Young women are painfully jealous things. They place a lot of importance on with whom you choose to spend your time. Perhaps the key to rekindling your…erm…_relationship_ with the lady lies in creating a spark strong enough to ignite her passion."

"You're insinuating that I should spend less time with her to make her angrily desperate? She's not that simple, Diamante. I've barely breathed in the girl's direction for days and she hasn't budged. She is too stubborn."

"I am implying, sir, that perhaps you would do well to spend your time with someone that Nuvovniya would find more…_threatening_ in that way specifically."

Doflamingo smirked at the older man.

"That is the most wonderful idea you've shared with me all evening, you old dog."

"Wait until you hear what I have to say next."

…

Dinners ran more like conferences amongst the Donquixote family these days. It was the only time the entire crew was together, and this made the evening meal the perfect time to discuss the business of building Doflamingo's empire. He sat at the head of the table, Diamante on his right, Trebol on his left, and the rest of the crew scattered in whatever way was convenient down either side of the table all the way to the other end, where Nuvovniya always sat. A romantic would notice that this seating arrangement allowed Doffy and Nuvo to gaze at each other through the clatter of dishes and ramblings of the crew. A cynic would notice that the physical distance allowed the stormy couple to ignore each other entirely while keeping the appearance of nobility. A realist would notice that the other two perspectives were both accurate, and a combination of gazing and glaring took place every evening between swallows.

"I expect our new facilities to be fully prepared by next week." Said Machvise through a mouthful of roast beef.

"The toy soldiers are ready," Sugar replied. "I've been preparing a section of them specifically for lab work, so that our scientist will have plenty of useful assistants when he arrives. It wasn't easy to get them away from Juliette's mountain of housework, but it's done, none the less."

The brunette glared at the small woman from her place across the room. Doffy insisted that she serve as leading waitress for dinnertime, and she stood waiting for everyone to finish their food so that she could clear the dishes. She and Sugar had developed a distaste for each other since Sugar did not appreciate her toys being commanded by someone other than the members of the Donquixote family. Not that Sugar had been especially keen on the woman since Nuvo had briefed her on the conversation in the indoor garden that night.

"Perhaps if the family did not insist on being so sloppy, I wouldn't have a mountain of housework to be done." Juliette snapped.

Sugar gave her Captain a look.

"Are you really going to accept such insubordination from a servant at the dinner table?"

Juliette had the good sense to look frightened, but Doffy only chuckled.

"She's not incorrect, is she? Mopping up Trebol's trail of slime has to be a time-consuming occupation."

The slime-man blushed as men at the table erupted in laughter. Sugar scoffed and Giolla rolled her eyes. Nuvovniya imagined that she felt the same way that princesses of old must have felt sitting at the royal table of the foreign kings that their parents had chosen for them to marry. Equally royal as everyone around them, yet still out of place. Worried for the future of their new kingdom and worried for their own fate at the hands of the king. To be bedded or to be beheaded, that is the question…

"Speaking of our scientist, we believe that we have located him." Diamante announced.

"Diamante and I have been searching for him in these past weeks, using our own resources and asking our recently released friends of the old Mariejois to keep a watchful eye and listening ear-"

"I thought that all the repayment we asked of the released slaves was that they spread the word of our kind deed?" Nuvo quipped. "but I suppose eternal obligation to your savior is a small price to pay for freedom."

The table went very quiet, and Doffy shoulders showed a hint of tension. Nuvo relished in the visible irritation of her lover, content to know that she had gotten under his skin, even if only slightly. Doffy cleared his throat and continued.

"One of our kind friends from outside the kingdom has notified us, completely of his own free will, that a horned man seemingly composed of purple vapor runs an establishment in the South Blue. It is the best lead we have on Caesar Clown. I plan on making the voyage myself. I have already sent a letter informing Caesar of my arrival at The Lavender Lounge, and plan to leave tomorrow morning."

"_The Lavender Lounge_? What is Caesar doing with a place like that? It sounds like a day-spa!" giggled Dellinger. "Or a country club!"

"It sounds like a whorehouse to me." Added Sugar.

Diamante sighed heavily. "It is a gentleman's club which caters to those whom-"

He was cut off by Sugar's snort of laughter.

"Oh my god, it _is_ a whorehouse! Can you imagine Caesar Clown twisting tendrils of smoke around a dancing pole? Or playing awful music for a bunch of south blue peasants? The greatest scientific mind of our generation and he's serving cheap beer to a bunch of southern - Oh, _my god_!"

Sugar's laughter was contagious, and Nuvo found herself grinning while Dellinger continued to giggle.

"The club caters to a higher clientele than you imagine." Diamante clarified, rolling his eyes. "I am sure that whatever beverages he deems appropriate to serve are _not_ cheap."

"Which is why I think it is appropriate to attend to this matter in person. This is an opportunity not only to retrieve Caesar, but to make new connections that may be useful for a King. I plan to travel there by boat, remain there a few days to convince our scientist to return, and then be back as promptly as possible. I expect to return in a few weeks. I want the lab and the factory finished and completely prepared upon my arrival so that Caesar can begin his work immediately."

"It will be finished long before you reach our shores." promised Gladius.

"I expect nothing less. Considering the length of this journey, I have decided that company is required."

Nuvovniya could only stare. Surely, he didn't think that he could make up for the past few weeks of silence by whisking her away on an isolated boat bound for a gentlemen's club.

"Juliette, when you are finished with your duties tonight, pack a bag. Include some nice evening gowns. I could use a clever servant for the trip, and Caesar is fond of attractive women."

There were no mice in the Donquixote estate, but if there were, even they would have quieted at the sense of unease that dropped over the dinner table, and would have remained just as breathlessly silent as the feasting group. Juliette's eyes darkened and she looked at Doffy through her curly eyelashes.

"I have no evening gowns anymore, my lord."

"Ah, of course. But Nuvovniya could assist with this problem. After dinner, follow her to her quarters and I'm sure she can whip up some lovely pieces for you. She was a princess herself once, after all."

Nuvo didn't take a single bite for the rest of the meal, for fear that if she opened her mouth, the entire room would be in flames.

…

"He isn't the slightest bit interested in her and you know it. You _know_ that he's only doing this to get under your skin."

Sugars attempts to comfort her friend fell on deaf ears.

"Of fucking course I know that! I'm not angry because I'm jealous, I'm angry that he's deployed such a ridiculously childish tactic! Honestly, trying to use a servant to insult my womanhood…and in front of the entire family! It's embarrassing for both of us! And that stupid remark he made about my status! 'She _was_ a princess herself…' UGH! As if I'm no longer considered royalty just because…because…"

"Because you drowned your entire kingdom in acid?"

"That's not even relevant to this mess!"

"Yeah, and I mean, it was only, like, the one time."

Nuvo felt her cheeks flush.

"Why are you tormenting me like this right now?"

"I'm not trying to torment you, drama queen. I'm trying to remind you that you are not a bitch to be trifled with, and you've proven it a hundred times over. Even if he's being the pettiest person in the world, you are better than this!"

"I don't think I'm much better in terms of pettiness. I conjured Juliette's evening gowns, but I made the first one so tight that she cannot possibly bend or breathe fully in it and the next in a shade of yellow I can only describe as diseased urine. The last one looks like an infant's dress in an adult size."

Sugar chortled.

"Now that's petty."

"I also made all the linings incredibly itchy."

Sugar could only groan and put her face in her hands. Nuvo felt herself smile, a little, but her features changed quickly to irritation again.

"It doesn't matter. I'm sure Doffy will just buy her decent things when they reach land. He can't have his lady showing up to the lounge looking like an overgrown baby."

"And you cannot continue acting like an overgrown baby."

Nuvo was initially hurt, but realized that her friend was only speaking the truth.

"You're right. I know he loves these silly mind games. I was foolish to think that he wouldn't play them with me after everything we've been through. I feel so patronized."

Sugar nodded sympathetically.

"My sister didn't like it either. But it's just the way he is. If you're going to be on his arm, you have to accept all of him. You can't just pick and choose the parts of him that suit you."

Nuvo didn't want to bristle at the mention of Monet, but she did anyway. Her head was already full of nasty pictures of Doffy and Juliette, but they were only her imagination being vicious to her at a vulnerable time. Doffy's fling with Monet was not imaginary, and it stung her heart to picture him with a beautiful lady who had loved him enough to die for him. She felt stupid for being upset over it; it was a long time ago and the poor woman was dead.

"I know that. But he cannot pick and choose with me, either. I am still a Princess, and if I play this game right, I will be a Queen. I must remember that this life is like a game sometimes, and I am just as capable of making moves as he is."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure yet. But I am sure that I'm going to think of something damn good to get even. No, better than that. Fuck getting even, I'm going to one-up."

…

The ship was only a few hours away from making port, and for Doflamingo it could not come fast enough. The week and a half on the ship with Juliette had been practically unbearable. Juliette had adamantly refused to wear any of the dresses Nuvo had sent, so there was no choice but to clothe her in men's trousers and shirts for the voyage. Although they were an obvious misfit, Juliette still retained a touch of her noble grace in them, and Doffy respected her for it.

What he did not respect were her numerus efforts to seduce him.

Initially he was thoroughly puzzled by them. Why on earth would you want to hop into bed with someone who was tied to the death of your spouse and directly responsible for the destruction of your household and the removal of your title? But on further thought, Doffy remembered that women in Mariejois are taught from a young age to make an effort to please men of rank. Marriage was no more than a political move for Celestial Dragons, and impressing noblemen was critical if you wanted to secure a powerful match for yourself and please your family. Doffy was certainly a man of rank and she had nothing left to lose, so perhaps she thought throwing herself at him was her best chance at a better position.

And throw herself she had.

Over the course of the journey she had draped herself over him at every meal she was present for, going as far as to attempt to feed him wine dripping from her fingers. She followed him everywhere, even to the bathing rooms, where he had to practically shove her out the door before he could disrobe in peace. She waltzed into his private rooms wearing next to nothing several times; once after dining with the ship's captain, he had returned to find her completely naked in his bed, waiting for him.

She was a very attractive woman, and Doffy had been guilty of flirting with her before they left for the south blue, but that was mostly to annoy Nuvovniya, and at this point he wasn't sure it was worth it, considering the large inconvenience to himself and the fact that his red haired songbird had only seemed slightly miffed at dinner that night.

He hated to admit that he missed her.

He was jolted from his thoughts by the ringing of the transponder snail on his desk.

"What is it?"

"We're approaching the island, your majesty! Please prepare to disembark!"

_Finally…this voyage has been an eternity long. _

…

Doflamingo and Juliette approached The Lavender Lounge's tacky entrance slowly. Juliette was having difficulty moving in her too-tight dress, but it was the only one she could be convinced to wear in public. It took two fully grown men to hold the pieces in place long enough to be laced together, and Doffy worried the woman would faint if she exerted herself too much.

Once inside, they were escorted to a private room in the back of the business, decorated lushly, but clumsily. Caesar had no taste for design. The man in question entered the room only a few moments after Doffy's arrival. He was dressed in a bright purple suit, looking pale, even for himself.

"Good evening, Caesar. It is _wonderful_ to see you again."

Doffy moved to rearrange his long legs on the violet sofa and Caesar nearly jumped out of his hideous suit. Even his smoke appeared to shake.

"I-It is fantastic to see you again, Joker! And in such excellent health!"

"You know why I have come here."

"O-o-of course, your majesty! And of course, I will go with you to Mariejois! It is an honor to be offered my old position. I would be insane to turn it down!"

"You'd be dead, actually!" piped Juliette as she traced her fingers up Doffy's thigh. "My lord is very serious about acquiring that which he desires."

Doffy rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses_. You have no idea what I desire. You look a bigger clown than him._ Caesar laughed nervously.

"I-indeed! Well, I see that you certainly have no need of my services as far as the lounge is concerned, but allow me to entertain you for an evening or two before we depart. I'm sure you must want to relax after your traveling, and I can promise you infinite relaxation here! Free of charge, of course."

Doffy was about to agree to a drink when Juliette suddenly fell to the floor. _Oh, for fuck's sake. I knew she'd faint in that thing! _thought the captain, but then the brunette began to scream. She tore at the bodice of her gown, desperate to take in enough air to allow the heaving sobs to escape.

"What's wrong with her?!" Caesar shouted, alarmed.

"M-my daughter! Elanor!" She hurled herself into a seated position and grasped Doffy's legs, tears rolling. "Where is my daughter? What have you done with my little girl?!"

…

Elanor sat at a small round table in Nuvo's botanical bedroom, stuffing her face with pork and potatoes. She had been bathed and dressed in a soft pink gown after Sugar had undone her spell, and was too famished to ask many questions.

"This is a little cruel, even for you." Sugar whispered as the girl continued to chow down.

"Do not speak to me of cruelty. You're the one who turned her into a toy in the first place!" Nuvo whispered back. "Besides, this is a good move and you know it. Not to mention that she's going to be better off in my plan than she was before."

"I suppose you're right. But still."

After licking every morsel from her plate, Elanor looked at the two women with wide eyes.

"Why was I a dolly, and now I'm not one anymore?"

Sugar and Nuvo exchanged glances before gently seating themselves at the table. They knew there would be questions, and felt prepared to answer. At least she wouldn't ask about the other children. She couldn't remember them.

"Well, you were turned into toy because your parents committed a crime, and when you commit a crime, you have to be punished."

"But Celestial Dragons can't commit crimes! We're above the law! Everyone says so. And if my parents did the crime, not me, why am I being punished?"

Guilt stabbed at Nuvo's insides and she didn't know what to say. Fortunately, Sugar went to the rescue.

"You are absolutely right. It isn't fair, is it? That's why Nuvovniya has decided to give you another chance."

The girl looked back to Nuvo. The redhead cleared her throat, steeled herself, and spoke again.

"That's right! But you must understand, this chance comes with a cost. The Celestial Dragons no longer exist. They have been removed from power, and that means that you also do not have the status you once did. Now, the Donquixote family is in charge of Mariejois. Our leader is called Doflamingo. He is your new King and you are going to serve him and this family alongside your mother. You will be punished again, worse than before, if you don't behave. Do you understand?"

The girl knitted her eyebrows together tightly, but nodded her head.

"Where is my mother now?"

"She is with Doflamingo on a very important business meeting. They are returning very soon, and I'm sure she will be _thrilled_ to see you." said Sugar.

The girl nodded and looked to Nuvo again.

"If, erm, Do-fla-min-go, is King, who is the Queen? Is it you?"

"No. I am not a Queen. Yet." Nuvo grinned. "I am Princess of a land called Harmelude, and that means I have certain mystical abilities. Come!" Nuvo stood and grabbed the surprised child's hand. "I'll show you!"


	11. Chapter 11

The returning voyage to Mariejois was much quieter than its departing one. Caesar had brewed up a brilliant concoction to sedate Juliette, given to her via an herbal tea alongside her meals, and she slept most of the way back. Caesar avoided Doflamingo aboard the ship as often as possible, and when the two men did see each other, the clown was careful to speak only when spoken too. As for Doffy, he spent most of his time on deck, enjoying watching the ship slice through the choppy waters of the south blue.

In truth, Doffy loved the ocean. When he traveled using his strings and the clouds, he would often spare a glance or two downward to watch the sea ripple beneath him. It was a risky maneuver, the cloud leaping, and he wasn't able to look down for extended periods of time, but these rare glimpses of the water stayed in his mind long after he was back on land. Doffy was hypnotized by the ocean in the way all pirates are, regardless of devil fruit use. But the great body of water frustrated him as well.

It was the one thing in all the world that he was certain he could never touch.

Even being the most powerful nobleman in the world had its limits.

…

Juliette emerged clumsily from her slumber, and knew the ship had docked without being told. She knew the sensation of a still ship from a moving one thanks to the various cruises and trips she had taken with her husband before his death. She did feel a pang in her heart whenever he crossed her mind, but it was only slight and she truthfully did not think of him often. She had never loved him; she had never loved anyone except Elanor, and even that had taken time.

She couldn't believe that her captors had enough power to make her forget her daughter.

She had no idea why she was able to remember her so unexpectedly. One minute she had been sitting on a purple settee, the next she was on the ground, entirely unable to contain herself. Flashes of memory had gone off inside her head like sparks pinging off grinding metal. Elanor's first birthday, Elanor being scolded by her father for thieving a dessert before lunch, Elanor's laughter…

Elanor.

She knew that her daughter must be alive. Why would she be able to recall her if she wasn't? There had been a horrible moment when she thought that perhaps her daughter had died, and the downpour of memories had been a dark gift from the universe, presenting itself so she could mourn properly. But that didn't make any sense, realistically. Not that much in her life made much sense anymore.

She knew that Doflamingo and the scientist were drugging her. Whether it was her food, drink, or some invisible vapor being pumped into her room, she did not know, nor did she care. She swallowed each morsel with gusto and took deep breaths aboard the ship. The more she slept, the faster the time would pass, and the sooner she would return to Mariejois. If her daughter was alive, and she had to be alive, then she was somewhere in the Donquixote estate.

She was going to find her.

She would probably need help.

The King was her only chance. He had expressed minimal interest in her, even when she had engaged in deplorably simpering behavior for his affection. A small part of her cringed every time she touched him, but another part of her liked the thrill it gave. It had been years since she had been with a man; her husband slept with her only to impregnate her, and after Elanor was born he became discouraged. If she'd been caught with a lover it would have been a scandal, so she never tried. Doflamingo was a terror, but he was of noble blood and admittedly _very_ attractive. So, she would persist until he cared enough for her to improve her situation. He wouldn't marry her, not with the Harmelude witch in the picture, but if she could convince him to make her a consort, Elanor would be almost like a princess.

She deserved that.

Juliette groggily dragged herself from bed and prepared to change clothes. She dressed in the vomitous yellow dress that she had been given so spitefully and it looked just as awful as she imagined it would, but she no longer cared. It was trivial. Elanor was all that mattered to her now, and her child's name beat like a war drum inside her mind, pushing her toward her salvation.

_Elanor…Elanor…Elanor… _

…

Caesar could hardly believe his golden eyes as the threesome walked through the new version of the holy city. The cleanup had been a complete success, and the mansions gleamed in the sunlight like the marble teeth of a god. It was the most beautiful ghost town on earth.

Juliette felt strange walking about the remnant of her home. She could still picture the Celestial Dragons walking about the streets, visiting friends and business partners. She could remember the people she'd slaughtered in the birdcage. How different they had looked out here. She wondered if the homes would be filled by associates of the Donquixote family or if they would leave all this to crumble; a tomb to serve as a reminder of how far these people were willing to go. She wouldn't be surprised either way.

Doffy was impressed with Senor Pink and Dellinger's work, and reminded himself to praise them later. After all the looting and extermination of the previous population, there had been battle debris and damaged infrastructure all over the place. Now it was shining as a holy place should, and soon it would be ready to host guests of his choosing. His victory over the Dragons and his regaining of Caesar Clown merited a celebration, and Mariejois was a pristine location for a party with an exclusive guestlist.

They reached the main entrance of the estate and were greeted by two toy soliders, who quickly and expertly opened the door for them. Once inside, they were greeted by the entire crew. Nuvo stood front and center in a ravishing silk black gown that exposed enough of her legs to cause one of Doffy's forehead veins to pop and Ceasar's tongue to loll.

"Welcome home, your majesty. I trust your trip was…eventful?"

Nuvo's voice was like honey laced with arsenic. Doffy grinned.

"Yes. It had more surprises than I would have expected."

"I'm sure it did. I'm afraid I have a few more surprises for you. I have arranged a banquet for the family tonight, to celebrate your safe and successful return. Sir Caesar, you are invited, of course. You are one of the guests of honor!"

The gas man's chest puffed and he smiled lasciviously.

"I humbly accept your invitation! Thank you, erm…"

"Nuvovniya. But you may call me Nuvo. All my _closest_ friends do."

She winked. Caesar shuddered. Doffy's forehead popped another vein.

"I can't accept all the thanks, though," she continued, ignoring reactions from both the men. "After all the banquet wasn't even my idea."

She tossed a look over her shoulder, bloody tendrils swinging over her breast as she did so. A side door opened and Elanor emerged holding Sugar's hand, wearing a black silk creation of her own that was appropriate to her age. Juliette audibly gasped, as well as the rest of the crew, except for Sugar and Deli. Doffy took note. _They had no idea_…_she's kept this a secret from everyone, even Trebol and Diamante…_

"Mother!"

The seven-year-old yanked herself free of sugar's grip and ran toward Juliette. The brunette slammed to her knees to embrace the child. She did not release her until the girl was all but squirming out of her arms.

"Hello, darling." Juliette swiped away her tears quickly. "How are you? I mean, how have you been? Are you well?"

"I'm fantastic, mother! Madame Nuvovniya has been taking care of me while you were gone. She's amazing, mother. Just yesterday she made a hundred dresses for me. Can you believe that?! A _hundred_ dresses in _one_ day! I have colors I've never even seen before! I'll show them all to you!" Elanor took in her mother's ragged appearance and foul dress. "You should ask her to make you a new dress, mother! That one is just…_repulsive_!"

"Elanor, you've used your vocabulary word of the day perfectly!" chimed Sugar. "Now, spell it for us!"

The little girl stood very straight and calmly spelled.

"Repulsive. R-E-P-U-L-S-I-V-E. Repulsive."

Nuvo clapped her hands.

"That is excellent work, Ela. Now, what else did we talk about for today?"

The girl's eyebrows flew up and she flushed. "I'm sorry, Madame! I nearly forgot!" she whisper-shouted as she rushed to deeply curtsey at Doffy's feet. He arched an eyebrow first at the girl, and then at Nuvo. Juliette looked as though she'd been blanched.

"King Doflamingo, my name is Elanor, daughter of the Marlettow family. I am honored to meet you in person, and I am grateful to serve you and your family. Thank you for allowing my mother and myself to live in your beautiful home. I hope to be of use to you!"

She rose and looked to Nuvo for approval. She nodded at the child, and both silk-clad ladies turned their focus back to Doffy.

"What an eloquent child!" Doffy remarked, and the little girl beamed.

"Now, Ela, run to your mother's room and help run a bath for her! I have to have a quick word with her before she can get rested for the banquet."

"Yes, Madame!"

The child ran back to the side door, and it took every fiber of Juliette's being not to sprint after her. She gave Nuvo a blank, robotic look, like a porcelain doll waiting for it's face to be painted on.

"You and I got off on the wrong foot, Juliette. I know we have an unpleasant history, but Ela is a wonderful child. We are quite taken with each other, and since you are her mother, I would like to make amends. For her sake. Look, I have a gift for you!"

She gestured and Deli came forth with a box tied with a bow. Nuvo took it gingerly and handed it to the startled woman. She took it with trembling hands, half expecting it to explode. Sensing her discomfort, Nuvo laughed.

"It won't bite you! It's a gown for tonight. A _proper_ gown. And there are others and shoes and such as well. It's all waiting for you in your new room, across from Ela's. You should join her; she's eager to show you all her things."

The woman moved shakily toward the side door. She felt overwhelmed.

"And Juliette?" Nuvo called after her. The brunette turned toward her. "Ela is a _wonderful_ child, but if you ever cross me again, I'll slice her into enough pieces so that one may be buried with each of those new dresses. Am I clear?"

Juliette stared at her for long moment and then made a beeline for the side door. Nuvo turned back to the crew, all staring at her, quiet as the grave.

"I'll see you all for the banquet at eight!"

She circled on one heel and glided toward her room. Doffy waited until she was no longer in sight, then followed, leaving the rest of the flabbergasted crew to wonder how tonight's banquet would unfold.

…

Nuvo was barely inside her floral sanctuary when she was startled by Doffy's appearance in the doorway. They eyed each other meticulously, each wondering if the other would dare to speak first. When the silence stretched long enough to be awkward, Nuvo began to busy herself watering her flowers.

"This was my mother's garden."

Nuvo didn't know how to reply, so she didn't.

"I admit that I had forgotten it. She didn't do much of the gardening herself, the servants tended it for her, but she would sit in here often. Sometimes for hours at a time. I think we sat for a family portrait in here once."

He toyed with a bloom, caressing the petal between his thumb and forefinger.

"I like what you've done with it."

"I had to have _something_ to do."

Jab one.

"It appears that you've had plenty to do. You didn't strike me as the child-caring type."

"It's not like I'm her mother. How was your returning voyage, by the way?"

Jab two.

"Lovely, actually. Juliette was much more docile with Caesar's medical assistance."

_My god, what did they do to her? _Nuvo pictured her bound and gagged in a dark lower deck, dosed up on who knows what potent mix from Caesar's lab. 'But you did worse than that, didn't you?' a biting voice whispered in her mind. 'She probably spent the whole way back in that state AND moaning for Ela…and who's fault is that?!'

"I am consistently impressed with your aptitude for timing, Nuvovniya. Choosing to wait until you knew we had made port to reveal Elanor's existence to Juliette was masterful."

It had been pure luck, in fact. Nuvo hadn't thought of the plan until almost a week after the ship departed, and it had taken a few days to get Sugar to agree to changing the girl back without Doffy's express permission. But the two women had formed an unshakeable bond, and Nuvo had eventually won her over.

"Serves him right, anyway!" her small friend had shouted.

The timing was simply convenient. But Doffy didn't need to know that.

"Well, I thought I'd give you at least a week of _pleasant evenings_ with her before I struck the blow."

Jab three.

"My evenings with Juliette were not pleasant at all." Doffy drawled, and walked slowly toward her. "You know very well I did not lay one finger on that woman."

"I don't care what your fingers did to that woman. You and I never signed an exclusive deal. You are free to spend time with anyone you choose, and with whatever intention you may have. As am I. Monogamy doesn't suit us."

He didn't vocally disagree, but he didn't visibly agree, either.

"Then why are you angry with me?"

"I am angry because you absolutely humiliated me by taking a servant on a critically important ocean voyage and left me here to arrange flowers for a banquet!"

Jabs four, five, and six.

"Honestly, I can't believe you would try to intimidate me by running off with another woman! Reducing me to a fragile female stereotype like that…it's clear that seeing me in gowns and jewelry has made you forget that I am the same person who was in _prison garb_ with you! Lying over a pile of my own shit, singing to you through stone walls in the dark. Perhaps I should conjure a striped dress for tonight so that you may remember!"

"I have not forgotten any of it. Silk and chiffon could not change my image of you, no matter how gorgeous you are in them."

"Do not give me compliments!" Nuvo spoke viciously, but did not scream. She was determined to not lose control over herself like that last time they'd argued. "Give me the apology I deserve for enduring this embarrassment and for having to transform a little girl into a chess pawn in a malevolent game for your attention!"

"You're right. I apologize."

She felt her breath catch. Really? That's all it took?

"I should not have disrespected you in such a way. Regardless of my intimacy with you, it was not very noble of me to attempt to punish you using a servant. I am a noble, as are you, and I'm sorry if my selfishness put you in a position of feeling less than royal."

He closed the distance between them and took her hands in his own much larger one. Nuvo felt her nerves tingle. It was the first time they'd make skin contact since she'd struck him.

"You pulled me and my family out of prison, Nuvovniya. I will be indebted to you, always, for that, even if you choose not to hold it over my head."

She felt the ice around her heart begin to melt, but she swiftly removed her hands from his and allowed the frozen crystals to regain their grip. She wanted to forgive; she just didn't want to do it yet.

"Yes, I did do that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do before the festivities tonight. I've done loads of planning and I cannot afford to be distracted now."

It was a lie, of course. She was more than prepared for the banquet and had been for days. But she wasn't ready to be this close to him. There was palpable chemistry between them, and she was not about to let him use his finesse to sweep her off her feet. If he was surprised by her retraction from him, he did not show it. He gave her only stoicism before escorting himself out the door.

…

"UGGGHHHH what are they DOING up there?!" groaned Luffy, wolfing down his third and fourth boar legs simultaneously.

"It's been FOREVER since they took over Mariejois and not a peep about them in the papers since! How are we supposed to know what evil schemes they're planning?!" added Usopp.

"It has been awfully quiet," said Zoro. "Could they possibly have control over the papers as well?"

"It doesn't seem that way." Nico poured herself another glass of water. "The NewsCoo has been reporting as normal, and I think Doflamingo would have a lot more to say about himself if he were running the show."

"We're getting closer to Mariejois every day. Maybe by the time we get there, something will come up!" said Nami.

"Perhaps Doflamingo is really turning over a new leaf?" suggested Brook with a shrug, and Zoro promptly threw an apple at the skeleton. The fruit lodged itself in one of his empty eye sockets, dripping juice and pulp down the skull's face. With a large inhale, Brook sucked the apple through the socket, forcing the smushed fruit through his head and out to the floor from beneath his jaw.

"A delight for the tastebuds...if I had any!"

"Brook, that was disgusting!" Nami gagged.

"Hey, someone better eat that! Do you know how hard it is to keep fruit fresh on a ship for this long?!" raged Sanji.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Luffy scraped what was left of the apple from the floor and was about do something truly vomit worthy when Chopper burst in, swinging a newspaper wildly in his hoofs.

"Guys, look! It's Caesar! Erm…well, I think it is!"

The reindeer thrust the paper onto the food-laden table and bean to read.

"The owner and primary manager of the South Blue's most exclusive club, 'The Lavender Lounge,' mysteriously stepped down from his position early last week, and has not been seen since! Employees of the venue claim that CiCi's departure-"

"_Cici_?!" chortled Luffy.

"That's Caesar Clown all right. For such a smart guy, you'd think he'd be more creative…" Nami giggled.

"I'm not finished! Listen… 'Claim that CiCi's departure was completely unexpected! According to his accountant, CiCi had generated more profit this season than any year previously.' If he was making all that money, why would he suddenly step down?"

"Because a better deal came along." said Nico quietly. "The last Celestial Dragon has way more money than all those nightclub customers do combined."

"You think that the Donquixote pirates rounded him up? Then that means…"

"He's trying to rebuild the SMILE factory! And probably trying to regain ground with Kaido!" Sanji finished Zoro's thought.

"That's it! That's why we haven't heard anything! It would take time to set up that big operation again." said Usopp triumphantly.

"Don't forget they have a new member," cautioned Jinbe, "and if she's the person that we suspect, they're probably more than set up by now."

"I wish you and Nico would tell us who you think she is…" grumbled Sanji. "I can't keep working up new sweet recipes for that beautiful red head if she's the next big evil jerk we have to overthrow. Not in good conscience, anyway."

"When have you ever had a good conscience about women?" mumbled Zoro, and then he and Sanji were scrapping on the floor while everyone else continued to muse about Princess Nuvovniya for the hundredth time.

"It's dangerous for us to tell you more until we know for sure. This is the sort of knowledge that's best left unspoken until necessary." Jinbe's face looked dark.

"We know that she's involved with some terrible people, and that she may have been partially or even solely responsible for enormous atrocities even before knowing them. But I believe that we can trust that she isn't evil." Nico sipped at her water. "At least, I hope she isn't. Or we're all in more danger than we can comprehend."

"Hey, Sanji!" hollered Brook, distracting the swirly browed man from his dispute. "If she's not evil, we should convince Luffy to let her join the crew! Then she could be…" The skeleton pointed at his still-wet eye socket. " …the new _apple_ of your _eye_!"

Luffy laughed so heartedly that he nearly overturned the table and Sanji kicked Brook overboard.

Just kidding, he didn't.

But he thought about it longer than a friend should.


	12. Chapter 12

At eight o'clock sharp, the Donquixote family, joined by Caesar, Juliette, and Elanor, found themselves waiting for Nuvovniya at the dining room table to begin the banquet. It had been dressed for the occasion; decorated lavishly with a cream-colored table runner with lace edges and topped by silver dishes and dining ware. Candelabras laden with candles provided the only lighting, by which the group was able to read the notes at each setting, inscribed with names to designate where each person was expected to sit. Doffy was at the head of the table, of course, followed on his right by Diamante, Machvise, Gladius, Dellinger, Juliette, and Elanor, respectively. Trebol, Giolla, Senor Pink, Pica, Sugar, and Caesar lined the left side, leaving the opposite end of the table for Nuvo. By the time everyone was seated, it was ten minutes past eight, and she was still nowhere to be seen.

"Late to her own banquet." Juliette tsked. "Not very punctual, is she?"

"It is not _my_ banquet. It is to celebrate our King's safe return and to welcome Sir Caesar to our home."

Nuvo arrived at her chair in a flurry of black silk. Juliette stiffened. Her disdain for the younger woman was replaced by fear in her presence. She was sure that the threat that had been made against her daughter was not empty. She would have to remember to watch her words in this house more carefully. _Someone is probably always listening_…she thought, then risked a glance toward Elanor. The little girl had brightened when Nuvo arrived, and seemed thrilled to have a seat next to her. Still clad in her own black silk dress, the pair looked more like parent and child than Juliette was comfortable with. _I'll have to mind my tongue around Elanor as well… she trusts the witch too much…_

Caesar was perfectly thrilled with his seating arrangement. Positioned on Nuvo's right gave him ample opportunity to gaze at her, and with lovely Juliette directly across from him, he felt he had the best seat in the house. Sugar's presence on his right made him slightly uneasy though. _Best not to be too flirtatious if I don't want to be a whoopie cushion by dessert!_

"Forgive my lateness, everyone. I was distracted and lost track of the time. But now that everyone is present, let the banquet begin!"

There must have been a cue in there somewhere, because suddenly three child-sized dolls dressed in formal suits entered the dining hall. One carried a violin, the second a cello, and the third pushed a miniature piano across the room. They stationed themselves on the left of the table, poised to begin.

"Play!" ordered Nuvo, and the pianist began a relaxing song, joined melodically by the string instruments.

_They seem so familiar somehow…_thought Elanor as she allowed her body to gently sway with the music.

_She used to play with us…_thought the violin doll sadly. His name was Philadendron. _I wonder if she can remember playing the trumpet. I suppose she can remember how to play it…she just can't remember playing it with me. _He wanted to stop playing and shout at her, force her to remember, but he knew she could not, and if he dared to try, Lady Sugar or Lady Marlettow would likely rip his head off. _Poor Lady Marlettow can't remember Elanor and I practicing in her parlor either…_ The boy was only nine, but he felt that he was dealing with a very grown-up sort of sadness, and he wasn't sure how to manage it.

With the band now in full swing, Nuvo returned her attention to the diners. She gave them a foxlike grin, then raised her hands in front of herself, as though she was preparing to push something.

"_Let us eat!"_

She did not sing the words, exactly, but rather spoke them with rhythm, as if she were reading poetry aloud. There was a rush of wind over the table, and everyone gasped to see their favorite dishes presented before them on dishes which, only a few seconds ago, had been empty. A spicy curry for Gladius, a full roast pig for Machvise, and so on. She had never conjured so many different entrees at once, and never in so few words.

_She's been training while we were_ _away,_ Doffy realized. _And this is likely not the full extent of it. She's showing off, and I'd bet that the show has only just begun…_

She had indeed been training. Frustrated with her lack of progress in determining how to access the new power she had discovered while rescuing Dellinger from the manticore in Impel Down, she had decided to focus on further developing her known abilities instead. She'd been working on her skills since they had settled in Mariejois, but Doffy's escapade with Juliette had really given her motivation to buckle down. Food had been her very first specialty, and she was determined to outdo herself this evening.

On top of raw conjuring prowess, she had recruited Dellinger to assist her in learning what sort of foods the rest of the crew enjoyed. It had been nice to work with him on this; they hadn't had much time for conversation since arriving in the Holy Lands, and she had missed her fishman friend. He had recovered his personality completely, albeit a little changed from his imprisonment, as they all were. He had also realized that his romantic feelings for Nuvo were nothing more than a trauma response, and while he did love her, he understood that he loved her in the same manner in which he loved the rest of his crew.

Thrilled with their personalized menus, the banquet's attendees dug in. Only Caesar's plate was left empty.

"I'm afraid I do not know what sort of cuisine you prefer, Sir Caesar. What would you like for your dinner? _Fish_?" She spoke in that rhythmic way again, and a platter of tilapia appeared before the clown. _"Duck? Chicken? Escargot?"_ With every word, more food appeared on the table. Caesar was delighted.

"Please, you must stop! It all looks fantastic, but if you bring forth any more, you'll have to roll me out the door afterward!" he laughed, golden eyes glinting. "I am very impressed with your talents!"

"I assure you; my talents include much more than this." she winked saucily at him, and he blushed. Doffy felt a forehead vein pop.

The table was quiet as its guests stuffed themselves. Finally, the clutter of forks and knives desisted.

"Shall we clear the table for dessert?" Nuvo asked.

"Absolutely!" cried Elanor, much to her mother's chagrin.

"Manners, Elanor." she lectured.

"Oh, come, Juliette. What child isn't excited for dessert? _Dishes, to your place_!"

And with a snap of her fingers, the soiled plates and cutlery disappeared into thin air.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Caesar. "Where did they go?"

He made a grand show of looking under the table and around the room. Nuvo laughed to hide her relief. Vanishing had never been possible in her childhood, and her recent training with it had produced mixed results. The rest of the crew was also excited. She had never made anything vanish in their presence before, and she had explained that vanishing was difficult.

"In truth, Caesar, I've played a trick on you. I did not really make the dishes disappear. I simply sent them to the kitchen to be washed."

She had sent them specifically to the sink, but unfortunately, she had underestimated the distance and had given the kitchen staff a nasty surprise when a mountain of silver had plopped down in the middle of the stove. But they would clean the mess, of course, and the family would never know.

"I don't know how we'll manage dessert." Giolla groaned. "I don't think I could manage even walking after that feast."

"Why walk when we may _float_?" Nuvo announced, and the table and chairs began to gently levitate from the floor. The ceilings of the dining hall were high like the rest of the house, and within minutes the entire room's contents had drifted fifteen feet into the air. The crew all clutched at their chairs and the edge of the table as they bobbed so far from the floor.

"Oh, no need to fear! You wont fall if you let go. See?"

Elanor bravely stood upon her chair, then jumped. Juliette released a frightened cry, but it died quickly in her throat. Elanor was floating lightly in the air, as if she were submerged underwater. The chair drifted aimlessly behind her. Her curled hair lifted around her head ethereally as she spun herself, forcing her skirt into a silky circle around her waist like a tutu. Nuvo had also left her chair behind and was gliding toward the child, taking her small hands in her own and spinning them both in a wide circle, the both of them positively giddy.

Trusting that they would not plummet to the floor, the rest of the family released their wooden holds and let themselves float. Giolla was in hysterics over Pica's large form rolling by her like a fluffy cloud. Machvise was perfectly at ease, having experience lifting weightlessly into the air. Gladius and Senor Pink had made a game of shooting bits of slime off of Trebol's body, which was bobbing helplessly about, much to Caesar's amusement. Deli used his strong legs to push himself whichever direction he chose, playing a one-sided game of tag with Sugar, who only laughed harder each time she failed to tag him back. Diamante was the only one of the bunch who could still manage to look stern, even while levitating sideways. The candelabras had risen from the table and twirled quietly through the air, the candle flames creating a soft pyrotechnic light show.

"Elanor, choose a color!" Nuvo shouted at the happy child.

"Magenta!"

"Alright candles, you heard her, let's go _magenta_!"

Each candle flame tripled in length and took on the pink-purple hue. Ela clapped her hands loudly together and screamed again.

"Blue! Gold! Red! Lilac! RAINBOW!"

Nuvo complied eagerly with each change until each candle flame was a different color, casting the ballooned group in a multicolor glow. She released Elanor's hands and nudged her toward her mother, who grasped the child's hands and became her new dancing partner. Doffy made his way through the chairs and candles to her, one arm encircling her waist and the other taking her hand.

"Can you dance in these conditions?" he asked in that voice like smoked honey. She grinned.

"Only one way to know."

Slowly, they began a mid-air waltz. The band was floating alongside their instruments, and they continued to serenade the dinner party. Philadendron made a small effort to drift closer to Elanor, but Juliette shooed him away. Elanor made a face at her mother and pushed back toward the doll.

"My name is Elanor of the Marlettow family. I can play the trumpet! Maybe Madame Nuvovniya will let me play with you and your band! I'll ask her later!"

Philadendron nodded so vigorously that he would have dropped his violin, if he were able to drop it without it wandering off with the candles.

"My, my, you have been busy." Doffy muttered into Nuvo's hair as they danced. From merely conjuring wind and changing its direction to changing the air pressure of an entire dining hall. Well done."

She wanted to be annoyed that he'd figured it out so quickly, but then it really wasn't complicated considering how familiar he was with her abilities, and he had payed her a compliment, after all.

"Thank you."

They continued moving gracefully, stepping and dipping as naturally as if they were on the ground. Not wanting to ignore the rest, Nuvo called for dessert, and spheres appeared all over the room in an array of colors. Giolla grabbed one a took a bite.

"It's mochi!" she shouted gleefully. "This one is vanilla!"

"This one's mango!"

"Green tea over here!"

Elanor couldn't stop giggling.

"Make more, Madame! More! More!"

A voice, distant, whispered in her mind, one she had almost fooled herself into thinking she had forgotten. Bubble storms, dress-up, the ballroom at home, in Harmelude…

"Make more, Nu! Make more"

Scabor.

Then the members of the dining hall were falling. No, not really falling, just a jolt. It only lasted a half-second, but it was long enough to scare the crew. They looked to Nuvo with fearful expression. She laughed nervously.

"Only spooking you! Carry on!"

When the couple had finished three dances, Trebol had nearly no slime left, and Elanor had eaten enough mochi for six people, Nuvo gingerly lowered the party to the floor. The family and Caesar went their separate ways, each headed for his or her respective bedchamber. Nuvo and Juliette were walking Elanor to her room.

The two women stood stiffly beside each other while the little girl changed into a nightdress and crawled into bed. Nuvo moved to tuck her in, as she had done every night since transforming the girl, but Juliette elbowed her aside.

"I'll do it."

"You've never tucked me in, mother. Even before King Doflamingo came. Do you know how?"

"I'll manage."

"But Madame Nuvovniya always does it. Can't you both do it?"

"Why don't we let your mother do it tonight? We can take turns in the future."

Juliette's eyes shot daggers at the red head, but softened when she pushed the blankets in on either side of her daughter. She kissed the sleepy girl's forehead and whispered.

"I'm so sorry I've never tucked you in. I'll do it as often as I can from now on."

"It's ok. Can I play my trumpet with the band?"

"I don't know if it would be appropriate for you to play with servants."

The girl sighed, then turned her head to Nuvo.

"Can I play with them, Madame?"

"I think that's a great idea. You could use the practice."

Ela smiled. Juliette glowered. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Goodnight."

Elanor was asleep before the two women left the room. As soon as the door closed, Juliette whirled, fuming.

"Is it difficult to mother her knowing that you murdered her father?"

"It's very easy when I remember what my parents were like with me before her father shot them."

Juliette stomped into her room, slamming the door as Nuvo stepped lightly toward her own, then decided that a visit to Doffy's bedchamber was long overdue.

…

It took her longer than she expected to find his room. She had only been inside it once, and it hadn't been a pleasant time, so she wasn't surprised at her difficulty remembering where it was. Nevertheless, she had eventually found it, and knocked twice before Doffy answered the door. He answered it unclothed.

"What brings you here?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Should I have waited for an invitation by post?"

He chuckled.

"You never need an invitation to my bed, Nuvovniya."

He moved to allow her to pass over the threshold, and before she had time to worry over what to say, he had pinned her to his bed, stringing her hands together above her head with his devil fruit power.

"I have missed playing with you." He mumbled into her neck, kissing his way toward her face.

She scoffed.

"Up!"

With more wind force than necessary, she slammed them both into the ceiling. Doffy let out an 'oof' as back cracked the stone at the point of contact.

"I am not a plaything." she whispered slyly before releasing the wind, allowing them both to fall full speed back into the mattress. They bounced for a moment before Doffy was able to attach either of her legs to a bedpost with his strings.

"Oh, I am well aware of that at this point. Forgive my poor choice of words."

He flicked his wrist and slit her dress right down the middle, yanking the fabric from beneath her bound body and flinging it across the room.

"I've wanted to do that all day." he moaned, trapping an exposed nipple in his mouth.

"What stopped you?" she gasped as he moved to give her other breast equal attention.

"You aren't the only one with a knack for good timing."

He was still fondling her breasts when she felt a soft push at her ass. Something firm and smooth traced her hole delicately, then slowly pushed forward. It felt like a finger, but how? His hands were holding him up while he kissed her chest. So, what was fucking her a-

The mysterious probe removed itself, then rammed back in, just hard enough to cause a little pain. It pushed itself in and out of her ass, alternating its pace often enough to keep her gasping.

"Wha-at? What is that?" she groaned as it quickened again. Doffy chuckled against her skin.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked loftily, and she was ready to hit him with her tied hands when another object slid from the base of her labia to her clit, cutting off any retort she might have had. The new thing continued to caress her clit, rubbing in time with the thing pushing in and out of her ass. She leaned into the sensation and felt her wetness growing. She closed her eyes and barely noticed when he removed himself from the bed, moving to stand at the foot and watch her.

She wasn't sure when he'd blindfolded her. She only knew when she had opened her eyes, she still couldn't see. She thought she heard feet moving along the floor, but the things were distracting her, still working at her asshole and clit when she felt the tip of his cock brush hotly against the lips of her labia. At least, it felt like his cock. She really didn't know, but she really didn't care once it began methodically easing in and out of her cunt.

She moaned loudly as the cock nudged deeper inside her, but she closed her mouth around something else, _another_ something that felt and tasted like his cock. As it pushed further into her mouth, she felt his balls brush against her nose. He had to be hovering just over her head, pushing himself into her mouth. _That's definitely his cock then…so what the fuck is inside me right now?_

She tried to draw some logical conclusion, but the fire rushing through her blood wouldn't allow logical thought. The stimulation was overwhelming, and it wasn't long before she was squirming with orgasm. The things removed themselves from her and she was still panting when the blindfold was removed, and she looked up at Doffy's figure, leaning over her head exactly as she had thought.

"Would you like to see what made you cum?"

She nodded, breathless. He released her from the bondage and she sat up to see that she was correct in that it was a couple fingers and a cock that had made her come undone, and they did belong to Doffy, they just weren't attached to him. Rather, they were connected to strings, which swirled together to form the cock and fingers themselves.

"You aren't the only one showing off new tricks tonight, either." he laughed, that true, jackal-like cackle that sent chills through a room. "Did you know that I can make an entire clone of myself from string?"

She only processed what he said after he'd shoved her from behind, shoving her face-first into the bed. He grabbed her hips harshly and yanked her ass into the air. He fisted her hair and forced her to look up, where the clone Doffy stood naked, as convincing and beautiful and _erect_ as the real one. The clone stepped forward and got on the bed with them, wedging itself between her and the mattress. She felt the clone's stiff dick tease her inner lips while she heard Doffy spit and then the tip of his cock was at her asshole.

The clone buried himself to the hilt, thrusting rapidly. The real Doffy slowly pushed the head of his cock into her asshole, watching her carefully for signs of discomfort. There were none. He pressed himself further and felt her muscles tighten around him impossibly hard. He eased himself out and then back in repeatedly, until he had established a perfect rhythm with the clone.

Nuvo had never been so aroused. One in, one out, one in, one out, then both of them inside her together, slipping against each other through a thin layer of skin within her, faster and faster. She thought she'd surely combust if they didn't slow down, and yet she didn't want them to. The real Doffy reached around her to play with her clit, and only a moment later, her second orgasm forced all her muscles to contract, shattering his resolve and pushing him over the edge of his own climax. The clone disappeared and they both crumpled into the sheets, sticking to them with sweat.

When precious air finally returned to her lungs, she inhaled deeply and nuzzled against him.

"What an eventful evening."


	13. Chapter 13

After Caesar comfortably settled into his sparkling new laboratory, production of the SMILE fruits became Doflamingo's first priority. He checked in daily with the scientist for status updates and required a full progress report every week. Progress was slow since the destruction of the original lab had resulted in the loss of most of Caesars research, but Doffy hoped that being paid a considerable sum for results would help spark the gas-man's memory quickly. Not to mention that Caesar didn't have to be told what awful fate may be in store for him if he failed to meet Doffy's expectations.

With the lab up and running, the rest of the crew had been assigned new jobs. Doffy had decided that Mariejois' brilliance was wasted if the entire place remained empty. Diamante and Senor Pink had been given the duty of selecting elite families to invite to reside in the reformed city. Regal nobility, high caliber politicians, and wealthy businessmen were all being considered. Doffy insisted on only the best of the best being allowed in, but he also wanted to ensure that no one invited had the motivation or resources to oppose him if conflict arose, so potential residents would have to be put through intense background checks and an extensive interview process before being cleared to move in.

Which is where Dellinger, Gladius, Trebol, and Pica came in. They were responsible for delivering the invitations to eligible families. Doffy felt that having his officers deliver the message in person was more intimate that merely sending a letter in the mail, and having his people in town allowed them to spy on the potential residents. It also ensured that word would spread that the Donquixote family was no longer remaining cloaked in the shadows of Mariejois.

Giolla had suggested that the children of these families might benefit from the presence of a school in Mariejois.

"Most families of status have their children taught privately at home." Doffy had replied.

"Of course, but they can't all bring their tutors with them, and having a school provided by our family would guarantee that children receive a first class, _Donquixote approved_ education. With a focus on respect for the rulers of the fine kingdom you are creating here."

"That's a little brain-washy, don't you think?" Sugar asked.

"Why, no! I don't mean to have DONQUIXOTE ARE SUPREME on the classroom wall or any such thing. I only meant that a school would provide the children with an opportunity to learn in a setting which we can control, ensuring they meet the standards of a Mariejois resident when they reach adulthood. We could also charge tuition, generating revenue for our own expenses."

"Ah, so these people get the honor of paying for their brainwashing. Excellent." Nuvo quipped.

"Oh, you two, be sensible! This could be a wonderful thing. It would help us be more in touch with the personal lives of our residents! Nuvo, you've been tutoring Elanor for weeks now with impressive results; you would make an excellent teacher!"

"You would make a super sexy teach, Nuvo." Sugar agreed.

"Oh no, don't rope me into this. I am not interested in being a teacher, sexy or otherwise. Elanor is a special case, and besides, Juliette has mostly taken over her tutoring since she returned. I couldn't handle a roomful of children I've never met."

"Well, I could! Young master, I need a project here, and you must see that there are multiple benefits for you. May I please manage a school?"

"Why not? It'll be interesting to see what comes of it."

…

With Sugar still managing her army of toys and Doffy wrapped up in everything else, Nuvo found herself rather lonely these days. Everyone around her had a specific job to do, but she had little to occupy her time besides training and reading. She had been attempting to find more information about her powers, hoping to dig up some explanation of what had happened when they escaped prison and she had miraculously saved Delli from the manticore, but her research thus far had been disappointing. It seemed that supernatural ability related to singing was limited almost exclusively to Harmelude, and she couldn't exactly visit that library.

She complained to Doffy of her boredom plight.

"Do you mean that being my fulltime bedroom partner is not fulfilling enough for you?"

"HA. You are a King, not a comedian. Come on, Doffy, there has to be something useful I can do here."

He pondered for a moment.

"Why don't you watch over Caesar for me? Checking up on him every day has become tiresome, but I'm worried that if I don't keep an eye on him, he'll slack off. You could be his lab assistant. I'm sure you'd be useful to him. You did ask me once if I thought he may be useful to you, as well."

"You think he could help me advance my abilities?"

"Perhaps. Besides, I'm sure he would much prefer to see you on a daily basis rather than myself."

…

Early the next morning, Nuvo rose and dressed for lab work; pants, long sleeved blouse, closed-toe shoes, hair in a ponytail. She arrived at the lab at Doffy's usual time, and Caesar was certainly surprised to see the red-head in the doorway. He wasn't pleased that he had been given a full-time lab assistant against his will, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it considering Nuvo's position. That didn't stop him from being in a huffy mood about it.

"You know, the last time one of Joker's girlfriends was sent to spy on me, she ended up with wings and chicken legs."

"The last time one of Doffy's officers was sent to spy on you, she couldn't conjure rare, complicated, _expensive_ resources for you out of _thin air_."

He blinked a few times, then smirked.

"Touché, Madame Nuvo. Let's get started."

It turned out that Nuvo and Caesar worked together quite well. Despite his questionable personality, the clown was dedicated to scientific discovery, and Nuvo admired his intellect. With an extra set of hands, Caesar was able to get through more work more quickly, which was convenient considering that so much of the work they were doing was based in trial and error. By lunchtime, the pair had already created four potential fertilizer additives for SMILE fruit soil and had the beginning chemicals for SAD synthesizing in the corner.

"Shall we return to the estate for lunch?"

"No need."

With a murmur beneath her breath, Nuvo had a table set for two fully laden with sandwiches and soups in the center of the laboratory. Caesar gasped and clapped his gloved hands together.

"That power of yours is so incredibly useful!"

"It does come in handy." She agreed. "But I hope to use it for more significant purpose than filling our bellies on a regular basis. Actually, I was hoping I might ask for your help in this matter."

The scientist arched a brow and prepared his plate. As they ate, Nuvo told him all about what had happened when she had rescued Dellinger from the Manticore in Impel Down. She described the feeling of the wind and the echo sound as well as she could, and told him every detail of the efforts she had gone through in an attempt to recreate the ability in training. He listened intently as he munched, and when she had finished, he made her repeat the entire story again, grabbing paper to take notes. When she had finished a second time the gas man was silent; she worried that he was going to make her begin again for a third time when she realized that she was starting to feel lightheaded.

She tried to stand but immediately collapsed to the floor beside the table. She took a ragged breath, but she was hardly able to take in any air at all. She tried to grab the tablecloth to pull herself up, but she only dragged all the leftovers back to the floor with her.

_What is happening? I can't breathe!_

Lying there on the floor on her back, gaping like a fish, she turned her panicked eyes toward Caesar. He was still sitting calmly at the table, watching her struggle with no apparent unease. His face was cold; seemingly calculating just how long it would be until the woman he was just sharing lunch with was dead.

_It's him…_ Nuvo marveled darkly as her vision began to spot. _He's manipulating the oxygen in the air around me…he's going to kill me! What do I do?!_

Nuvo reached weakly for the man, but her strength was depleted. Then her body went flat and everything went very dark.

But it wasn't the blackening dark that she had seen while imprisoned. That dark was ominous, looming, and loud. This dark was quiet, seeping into Nuvo's veins almost gently, like mist. She felt as though she weren't dying after all, and even thought she might be able to move. She tried, and was amazed to realize that she could move with little effort, as though her limbs had become weightless. She flipped onto her stomach and extended her arm in the direction she had before, toward Caesar's chair.

She felt her mouth open, seemingly of it's own accord, and the echoing sound came bubbling from her lungs, sliding up her throat like swallowing cold water in reverse. Then the icy winds were there, just as they had been in Impel Down, slipping over her body and launching themselves off of her extended fingertips with tremendous force. There was an awful crashing noise and just as quickly as they had come, the wind and the echo were gone, as was the strange darkness over her eyes. Her vision cleared and she sucked in the much-needed oxygen as she clumsily rose to her feet.

Caesar was lying in a pile of shattered glass across the room. A purple chemical previously housed in one of the broken beakers was leaking onto the floor, creating strange vapors as the gas man coughed and sputtered. The chair he had been sitting in had exploded, leaving pieces of wood scattered in a path between the two. When her breath regulated, her strength returned, and she snatched a chair leg from the floor and swung it over one shoulder like a baseball bat.

"What was the meaning of that?!" she shouted hoarsely as the gas man cradled his bleeding head. "What was your plan? Murder me and then run for the hills, praying that Doffy and the crew wouldn't catch up to you? You weren't able to hide from him last time, remember?!"

She hovered over him with the splintered chair leg in the air, ready to swing. He flung his hands in front of his face like a frightened child.

"Nuvo, wait! It was only an experiment! And it worked!"

"What?!"

The clown coughed again and lowered his hands.

"I wasn't trying to kill you! I only took enough oxygen from the air to make you faint, which is what I thought had happened until you launched me over here! Everything you described…the voice, the powerful wind, it all came out of you, just like you said! And your eyes…I've never seen anything like this! I don't think anyone in the scientific community has!"

Distrustful, Nuvo didn't lower the bat.

"If you really weren't trying to kill me, why didn't you tell me that you were doing an experiment?"

"Oh, isn't it obvious?" he snapped, and Nuvo raised the bat higher. He flinched and raised his hands in defense. "Nuvo, listen to me! You haven't been able to recreate that power until now because until now, this moment, you didn't have any need for it! It happened in Impel Down because you were defending Dellinger from that thing, and it happened now because you were defending yourself from me! Don't you understand? It only activated when you believed that there was REAL danger! If I had told you that I wasn't actually trying to hurt you, you would have known there was no real threat, and I don't think the experiment would have been successful. But it was, Nuvo! It was!"

She slowly lowered the impromptu bat and put it down. It made perfect sense, and she was impressed that she hadn't come to this conclusion ages ago. Caesar removed himself from the floor and brushed the glass bits from his lab coat.

"Oh, you're bleeding! We should clean that up…"

Nuvo crossed the room to inspect the wound. It was only a small cut across his temple, but it was trickling blood down the side of his face. Nuvo used her blouse sleeve to dab at the trail, and she couldn't help but notice the pretty red color as the fabric absorbed the blood. As she continued looking, the blood seemed to swirl into patterns on the fabric, like a quill dragging ink across parchment.

"Are you seeing this?"

She looked at Caesar in wonder and showed him her captivating sleeve. Caesar took her arm gingerly and stared at it, tilting his head and widening his eyes.

"It looks like…there's blood on your shirt."

And then they were both laughing hysterically. Nuvo felt tears brimming in her eyes and she had to sit down on the floor just to keep steady.

"Wha…what is happening right now, Ceasar? Why is everything so funny?"

Once he managed to quiet his giggles a little, the clown pointed to the purple chemical that had spilled all over the floor.

"I think…I think we broke a bottle of Purrplex…" he gasped. "It's a hallucinogenic that I cooked up for the more…_adventurous_ crowds at the Lavender Lounge. It's not toxic and it'll wear off in a few hours…but getting any more work done this afternoon is out of the question…"

"Wait…what?"

"We're _high_, Nuvo. Stoney bologna. Tripping balls, so to speak."

Nuvo couldn't contain her laughter, and it burst from her in gusts.

"I'm sorry, Mr. scientific genius, is stoney bologna the medical term for this state?"

"Yes!" Ceasar collapsed laughing to the ground. "I diagnose you with a serious state of the stoney bolognas and demand that you take the rest of the afternoon off to laugh at nothing and ponder the existential meaning of life!"

They laughed until their faces were sore, then lay on the floor, watching the light on the ceiling form mandala patterns in every color of the rainbow. Time became no more than illusion, and neither were sure if they had been on the floor for ten minutes or ten hours. It didn't seem important though.

"You know, I never thought I'd find myself accidentally doing drugs with a mad genius. Wouldn't my mother be proud?"

"My mother never supported my interest in science. She wanted me to stay in our village and take over the inn with my sisters."

"You have sisters?"

"Two. Both younger than me. I imagine they're running the inn now, but I haven't spoken to them in a long time. I think one of them is married…I don't remember…"

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I chose my path and don't regret it. I've worked alongside some of the strongest minds of this generation and discovered amazing things…seen things in the lab that very few people can even imagine. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Even if the work I do now lands me in trouble sometimes. What about you? Would you go back to the life you knew before you went to prison and got involved with the motely crew?"

"That life doesn't exist anymore."

"What if it did? Would you go back?"

"I don't know. If my life had gone to plan, I probably would've eventually gotten married to some noble, run the kingdom alongside my brother. Harmelude was small and closed off from the rest of the world, so the most political excitement I would've seen was probably farmers fighting over livestock. I would probably have had children eventually…"

"Do you want to have children someday?"

"I don't know. Do you?"

"I don't think so. I'm not exactly pristine parenting material."

"Me neither."

"That not entirely true. Elanor seems to really enjoy your company."

"Yeah, but before that, I assisted in turning Elanor into a toy, enslaving her mother, and I also murdered her father."

"Oh yeah."

"Those pesky details, am I right?"

"Indeed. Nuvo…may I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure."

"You have an extraordinary level of power. You can do things that no one else on this planet can do."

"Stop, you're going to make me blush."

"I'm serious! Your ability makes you stronger and more adaptable than any devil fruit user I've ever heard of. Including Doflamingo…"

Caesar went quiet, and Nuvo sat up to look at him.

"What are you trying to ask?"

"I'm just wondering…If I had that amount of power, I wouldn't be content to be beneath anyone. And you were raised in nobility on top of it. I mean, its like you were destined to rule. So why are you working for someone else?"

"I'm not working for Doffy, I'm working with him…"

Caesar looked at her doubtfully.

"Honey, no one here works _with_ Joker. We're all his subordinates, because we don't have much choice. We all owe him something. All of us…except you."

"I owe him plenty. I wouldn't have made it in Impel Down if it weren't for - "

"But he wouldn't have made it _out_ of there if it weren't for you. None of the crew would've. If anything, he owes you."

"But it isn't like that! I have a bond with him, with all the crew. They're my friends, truly! I mean, not all of them, but Sugar and Delli are for sure! And Doffy and I have…something unique. It's hard to name, but it's genuine. We saved each other, in a way. You don't know what it was like in Impel Down…"

"I know I don't, but Nuvo…you aren't in Impel Down anymore. And ever since you left, it seems as though you've only done what was in Joker's interest."

Nuvo bristled and felt a need to defend herself.

"That's not true! Coming to Mariejois was my idea!"

"Alright, but whose idea was it to turn this place into a new SMILE fruit facility? Whose idea was it to have the Celestial Dragons murder each other, and to turn the last one into a maid? Whose idea was it to take that maid on a voyage to recruit me, bring me here, and then put you in the lab with me so you'd have something to do while everyone else was working toward his goal? What is your goal? What do you want? Who are you, Nuvo, other than his bedmate and secret weapon?"

For a moment she wanted to slap him, but the urge faded as she realized that he was right. She hadn't even considered what she might want to do with herself other than assisting Doffy with his plans. She'd even had to ask him what she should be doing now that Mariejois was up and running because she hadn't thought of anything on her own. She'd joined the crew, and she didn't desire to take it back, even if she could, but had she joined because she truly wanted to be a part of this, or had she joined because she felt as though she really didn't have any other options?

"I…I don't know."

…

"Do you think we've convinced them?"

"I think so. They have some attachments to the town, but Mariejois is too tempting an offer for people of their wealth. I'm sure they'll write to confirm their slot in a few days."

Dellinger and Gladius sipped ale in a tavern in the east blue. They had just finished consulting with a noble family about relocating to the new kingdom of Mariejois and were waiting for the ship to finish restocking supplies so that they could return home. The Lancent family was the last group on their list, so all that was left to do was to wait for their response along with all the other families.

A young waiter came over with the dinner that the men had ordered, and after he placed the dishes on the table, he hesitated to leave.

"Are you wanting something?" Gladius asked the young man, who immediately flushed.

"Yes, sir. You are members of the Donquixote family who liberated Mariejois, yes?"

"What of it?"

"I-I'm sure you don't remember me, but I was among the people you rescued. I returned here after that, to my home, but then I learned that my family is dead. There was a terrible illness that came to town shortly after I was taken away, and my parents and sister were lost."

"That's unfortunate. I'm sorry for you."

"It's alright! I-I've come to terms with it, but I w-w-wanted to ask…"

"What is it?"

"I wanted to ask if you would consider taking me back to Mariejois with you! I have no one and nothing here, and I would like to be useful to you and the new King! I'll do anything you need! I've worked in a house and a kitchen a-and I'm sure I could be useful for something! Please, sirs, I am begging you!"

Dellinger and Gladius looked at each other across the table.

"Give us a moment to discuss it."

"Of course!"

The young man quickly stepped back into the kitchen.

"What do you think Dellinger?"

"I'm sure that someone back home could use helping hands that aren't wooden or stuffed."

"Likely. He seems devoted to the family as well. And he knows the layout of Mariejois. He could be useful in assisting the new families move in."

"It's settled then! Let's bring him along. If Doffy disagrees, we'll just send him back."

Gladius nodded and when the young man returned to the table with the bill, Dellinger smiled at him.

"You're coming with us! What's your name?"

"Richard, sir!"

"Come, Richard. The boat should be just about ready by now."

"Yes, sir!"

"Oh, stop calling me sir. I wear heels, for pity's sake. My name is Dellinger."


End file.
